


I Remember You

by AlexDion



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Denial of Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Kid Loki, Kid Steve, Kid Thor, M/M, Male Slash, Waste of perfectly good strawberry ice-cream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-28
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2017-12-06 18:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 70,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexDion/pseuds/AlexDion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>90 years ago, when Loki visited Earth as a child, he met a frail and sickly boy by the name of Steve Rogers, who had the fiery passion and willpower to impress. 90 years later, when Loki returned to Earth to conquer it, he came face to face with the world's first superhero, Captain America, who had a heart of gold and nerves of steel to match. It didn't take long for Loki to realize that these two people were one and the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Time We Met

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I want to state explicitly that this is an AU. One where Loki is a child at the same time where Steve is. This means that future chapters will not be following Norse legends in such a way that humans will not have heard of myths of Loki and Thor. However, these myths will be referenced as actual events that had happened in Loki and Thor's lives over the span of the 90 years that they had grown.
> 
> Secondly, I got my inspiration for this fic from another Steve/Loki fic by Sheyrena Wyrsabane on ff.net called 'A Kiss and A Favor'. It is beautiful, and it gave me awesome plot bunnies for Steve/Loki, so I am writing this.
> 
> Last of all, this is a purely self-indulgent fic to satisfy my Steve/Loki feels. It will be story featuring their friendship and will develop over the next few chapters into slash. 
> 
> With that, let's proceed to the story!

“No Loki!”

“But- but...” Loki stammered as he stared at his angry father. Behind him, Thor was trying his hardest to pry off a scaly green snake coiled tightly around his head. The maids who were serving the two young princes were screaming and scrambling up onto the golden benches, scared witless by the numerous snakes slithering around the marble floors of the grand dining hall.

“...but they are harmless.” Loki finished meekly before averting his gaze to the ground. Odin glared at his guilty son before giving an exasperated sigh.

“Remove them immediately.” The All father ordered and Loki glumly did as he was told, vanishing the snakes with a wave of his hand and leaving traces of the wine they had been transformed from on the white marble tiles. Thor gasped in shock as the snake that was wrapped around his head disappeared and the cool liquid it transformed into soaked his hair, leaving it hanging in clumps around his face.

Odin glared at Loki again. The boy merely sulked.

“Return to your chambers Loki. You are not to leave without my permission.” Odin said sternly and shook his head when Loki stomped his foot angrily and strode off, deliberately stepping on Thor’s foot on his way out. The All Father watched all of this with a bemused gaze.

Loki was becoming more of a handful recently. After the young god had started his lessons in magic, there never seemed to be a single peaceful day in the palace. Loki had started to make a notorious reputation for himself as a trickster, and even though most of his pranks were not ill-natured, the All Father feared that it was only a matter of time before one of his son’s tricks went awry and caused trouble for both others and himself. Odin was trying his best to be a good father to Loki, however, he did not know how to handle with Loki’s mischief, to communicate with the increasingly rebellious boy.

_This had always been Frigga’s forte, not mine..._

The All Father made his mind up to ask for his wife’s help in this matter again. There was an unusual silence in the dining hall, and Odin realised that Thor was not complaining about his ruined clothes and Loki like he would normally do if his younger brother had been the only one in the wrong. He gazed over to his oldest son, who was now struggling to untangle portions of his wet, dripping blonde hair.

_And they are supposed to be the future rulers of this realm..._

Odin heaved another heavy sigh.

“You too, Thor.” The All Father said grimly to his son. Thor stopped what he was doing with a jolt and stared at Odin, who immediately noted the sheepish look on the boy’s face with slight quirk at the side of his lips. As expected, Thor was _terrible_ at concealing his guilt. “All of this is not simply your brother’s fault to bear. Return to your chambers now, you are not to leave without my permission either.” Odin commanded and Thor nodded nervously before fleeing out of the dining hall without further argument.

The All Father pinched the bridge of his nose wearily after the boy had left; he could feel another impending headache.

XXX

Loki threw one of his pillows viciously into the side of his wardrobe and punched another in anger.

 _It wasn’t fair! Father had never been fair!_ The young god thought resentfully as he glared at the slowing rising dent in his punched pillow. It was all Thor’s fault! Thor started it! If Thor hadn’t thrown one of his gravy soaked peas at him, Loki wouldn’t have retaliated by using Thor’s head as a stand for one of his magic snakes. Loki gave a bitter scowl.

_I don’t see Father sending Thor to his chambers!_

The young God of Mischief glared blankly into space for a moment, scheming of ways to get back at his annoying older brother and unfair father. He would turn all of Thor’s capes green, he would hide Odin’s eye patch, and he would push Thor into the palace pond, again. Loki chuckled happily at the thought. Yes, seeing Thor flounder about in the pond would quell his resentment somewhat. The young god plopped back onto his bed and sniggered at the mental image of his brother soaked to the skin. However, it was not long before his grin of amusement turned into a frown.

_But Father would punish me again after that..._

Loki scowled at the thought. His father never appreciated him enough. He focused most of his attention on Thor, teaching him the ways of war and the battlefield while he left Loki to the care of the mages and sorcerers who were placed in charge of _his_ education. Odin never cared about him, he never praised him; at least, not in the way he does for Thor, _the golden boy_. Loki sulked angrily.

This has got to change. If Odin wouldn’t pay attention to him, then Loki would make him pay attention. The young god frowned as he thought of the best possible way to spite his father. After a few minutes of pondering, the trickster’s face lit up in glee as he thought of the perfect plan for pay back. And if Odin was not forced to give him his attention after that, Loki didn’t know what else would.

XXX

“Good day Heimdall.” Loki greeted politely as he approached the Bifrost. The golden-eyed guardian stared back at him with an unblinking gaze.

“Our King had forbidden you to leave your chambers.” Heimdall stated matter-of-factly and Loki gave a sly grin.

“Well, you must be mistaken, I am here now.” Loki pointed out cheekily and the taller, muscular adult glared down at the young boy, unimpressed.

“Do not attempt to trick me, young prince.” Heimdall said sternly. “I see all and hear all. You do realise that I am aware of what you are planning?” The guardian added dryly before turning to behind to glare at the boy, who was quietly sneaking towards the Bifrost where Heimdall’s sword was still in place. The illusion of the young prince behind Heimdall flickered before fading as Loki paused and turned to gaze at the man in surprise. However, the young prince was only stunned for a second before his face split into a grin.

“Impressive.” Loki smirked while Heimdall glared at him, not looking impressed at all. “But I am afraid that you are too late, Heimdall. Do inform my father that I will enjoy my visit to Midgard.” The young prince flashed one final smug grin before activating the Bifrost and vanishing in a flash of bright white light. Heimdall stared blankly into the empty space where Loki previously was before giving a low sigh and turning back to inform Odin of this turn of events.

The guardian was sure that the All Father would not be pleased with his youngest son’s latest shenanigans.

XXX

“Hey you! What’s with your clothes, freak?!”

Loki glared at the group of boys surrounding him, all taller and bigger than the young prince was. Midgard had changed a lot since Loki had last visited it with his father and brother, and Loki didn’t like it one bit. For one, the mortals now had no idea how they should treat a god.

The young prince puffed out his chest a little and gazed condescendingly at the group of bullies surrounding him. After landing on Midgard, Loki had taken his time to explore the now unfamiliar realm at his leisure, and for some unknown reason, happened to come across this bunch of idiots in one of the more deserted streets. They had laughed at him, and when Loki retorted back, they pushed the dark-haired boy into another smaller, narrow alley at the back of a building.

“My clothes are made of the finest silk and thread,” Loki replied haughtily. “It is more than what you commoners could possibly afford.”

The group of boys stared at him with blank confusion for a moment before the insult sank in.

“What did you say?”

Loki tensed up as the leader of the group growled and advanced on him menacingly, raising his fists to strike the smaller boy. The young prince readied himself, and in another second the deluded mortal would have been flying backwards into the nearest brick wall if a sudden sharp young voice hadn’t distracted him.

“Hey! Pick on someone your own size!”

Both Loki and the group of bullies turned to stare at the source of the voice: a boy smaller and even scrawnier than Loki himself. Loki rolled his eyes.

_You can’t possibly be serious..._

Loki stared at the skinny boy with disdain. His over-sized T-shirt hung on him in a most unflattering way, emphasising instead of hiding the fact that the kid was all skin and bones. In fact, it seemed a miracle that he was even fit enough to catch his breath to shout. However, Loki soon realised that there was a certain air about him that made him feel different from other kids his age. It was like he was somehow more mature, even though he couldn’t possibly be older than Loki himself. His bright blue eyes flashed with determination as he stared down the pack of bullies who had now turned their attention from Loki to him. The leader of the boys took one look at him and gave a mocking laugh.

“You talking to me, stick?” The boy smirked and the cronies around him jeered. Even so, the scrawny blonde kid stood his ground and glared back at the group defiantly.

“Yeah, I am. Stop being bullies.” The boy retorted and Loki mused at how the smiles on the bullies’ faces were immediately wiped off.

The leader sneered at the skinny boy. “Who’s gonna stop me? You?”  He took a step closer towards his new target, tightening his fists as he did so. However, the smaller boy was not intimidated in the slightest.

“I could take on a coward like you in a fight any day.” He replied firmly and the bigger boy stiffened at the provocation. The leader snarled and advanced on the smaller boy, shoving him against the dirty wall of the alley and punching him in the stomach. The young boy doubled over in pain as the others laughed and Loki frowned.

How did the boy expect to stand up for him when he himself was so weak?

“Gonna say that again, pipsqueak?” The bully taunted. There was a moment’s silence and Loki contemplated stepping in when he suddenly saw the young boy slowly lifting his head up to glare at his tormentor, leaning painfully onto the wall behind him for support as he did so.

“Why not? I can do this all day.” The boy countered, a firm, stubborn defiance shining in his eyes through the tears of pain that had formed. Loki was impressed. The bully was not. He snarled and hit him hard across the face again.

The younger boy stumbled and nearly fell to his side from the sheer force. He bit his lip, refusing to show any sign of pain that would give his tormentor satisfaction and struggled to balance himself, only managing to avoid toppling over by using the wall behind for support. The bully smirked and raised his fist to strike the unsteady boy again when a sudden loud blast caused him to fly backwards and slam against the opposite brick wall. There was a moment of stunned silence as the other boys stared at their unconscious leader before screams of fear erupted and all of them made haste in abandoning this dark, godforsaken place.

Loki sniggered at the fleeing backs of the cowards before turning his attention back to the blonde boy, who seemed similarly shocked by what had happened. It took a minute for the boy to stare at the stirring body of the bully before turning to Loki with a stunned look. The young god bit back the urge to laugh and feigned a look of innocence.

“What happened?” He asked the boy with mock anxiousness. “How did you knock him out like that?”

The boy appeared flustered by Loki’s questions. “I didn’t! I didn’t even touch him!” He protested and the sides of Loki’s lips twitched.

“Stop lying.” The young god said, enjoying the look of confusion on the boy’s face. “I don’t see anyone else around who could have done that.” He added, finally giving up and grinning at the flabbergasted look on his acquaintance’s face. The boy seemed about to argue once more but Loki interrupted before he could speak. “Come on, let’s leave this place before someone sees us and _you_ get into trouble.” Loki smirked as the look of bewilderment on the boy’s face turned into one of indignation.

“I didn’t hit him!” The boy said unhappily once more and Loki grinned before leading them out of the alley.

XXX

“My name’s Steven Rogers. Everyone calls me Steve.” The scrawny blonde boy introduced himself before holding out his hand for Loki to shake. Loki stared for a moment before accepting and quickly releasing Steve’s hand a second later.

Both boys were now out of the alley and currently in a park where more people were present. Loki had logically deduced that even if the other boys dared to track them down after the incident, none would have the guts to approach them in a crowded park. It was a good place for them to rest, and a good place for Steve to continue trying to convince Loki, who had made himself comfortable on a park bench, that he was not the one who had knocked the bully unconscious.

Loki grinned at the memory before realising that Steve was staring at him with an expectant look on his face.

“What?”

Loki frowned at the blonde boy before reaching up to feel his hair. Was it messed up or something? Why was the mortal staring at him like that?

“Your name. What is it?” Steve asked curiously and Loki gazed at him in surprise for a moment before giving a laugh.

_Of course, this human wants to know my name!_

Loki grinned at the boy. The godling had not planned to reveal his identity to anyone on Midgard during his brief visit. This visit was supposed to be temporary, one that would end as soon as Odin came to fetch him back to Asgard. He didn’t even mind if the only attention he could receive from his father was one that was negative; Loki will take all the attention he could get.

However, even though Loki had not planned to meet any new friends on Midgard, Steven Rogers had appeared contrary to his expectations. The black-haired boy mused at the thought of how this human child smaller and weaker than him had actually dared to stand up for him against a bunch of bullies larger and stronger looking than they both were. Steven Rogers was different from the other mortals he had met before, that was for sure. He supposed the boy deserved to know Loki’s name.

“I am Loki Odinson.” Loki declared proudly. Steve gave him a strange look.

“That’s not a common name.” The blonde boy stated. “At least not around here.”

Loki gave a little huff at his words. “Of course it isn’t. I am not from around here.” The young prince puffed up his chest. “I came from Asgard.” Steve Rogers stared at him blankly.

“Where’s that?”

Loki gave a tiny snort at the boy’s ignorance.

“A place far better than here.” The young prince replied pompously and Steve looked at him in disbelief before giving a roll of his eyes.

“Yeah right.” The boy retorted and it was now Loki’s turn to glare at him. How dare this mortal boy not believe what Loki said!

The young raven haired prince glowered at Steve for a moment before deciding to be generous and disregarding the disrespectful remark the mortal had made. Besides, if everything went well, this Steven Rogers would probably be the first friend Loki would have in Midgard. After all, there were few who would step in to defend the young prince in times of need, ( _Thor would, but Loki refused to count him as he was Loki’s idiotic big brother_ ) and the prince decided that anyone who had done so deserved the grace of his friendship, or tolerance, at the very least.

“So, I believe I owe you a debt for helping me earlier.” Loki said casually and Steve Rogers paused for a moment before shaking his head.

“You don’t owe me anything.” The blonde boy stated flatly. “I was only doing what’s right. And I didn’t do much anyway.” He added as an afterthought and Loki gave a quiet snigger.

“You did knock the bully out.” He pointed out cheekily and Steve glared at him.

“I didn’t.” He protested. “I’ll admit it if I had, but I didn’t even touch him!” Steve huffed. Loki’s amusement at the boy’s indignation soon turned into one of curiosity as he gazed at his new acquaintance. How was it even possible that a scrawny, unassuming human like the boy before him, would dare to stand up against someone twice his size to protect a complete stranger? Even when he knew that the odds were against him and that he had no possible chance of winning? At least Loki had his magic to aid him if the situation turned ugly.

The young god quietly observed the dark bruise already starting to form on Steve’s left cheek from when the bully had struck him. It looked awfully painful.

“So why did you do it?” Loki asked seriously and Steve appeared stunned by the question.

“Do what?”

“Why did you help me earlier?” Loki said impatiently. “That guy from earlier was a lot stronger than you are. He could have beaten you up easily, just like he was about to beat me. You would just get into trouble for defending me.” The raven haired boy ended matter-of-factly. It was the truth. Steve would have been able to hold his ground against the larger bully just as well as an ant could possibly hold its ground against a boot. It was not at all wise for the frail boy to do so.

Steve stared at the young god as though he had just asked something stupid.

“It didn’t matter.” He replied firmly. “It was the right thing to do.”

Loki stared at the human boy, noting how his eyes were shining with that same fiery determination just like they had during the confrontation with the bully. It was peculiar, to say the least, how someone with such a frail sickly physique could possibly have such a strong personality underneath.

“But you could have gotten hurt.” Loki argued. “You didn’t have to help me. No one would know if you hadn’t. You didn’t know me... I am not your friend.” He added quietly.

Steve stared at Loki. “It doesn’t matter.” He repeated, giving the dark-haired boy a smile. “I saw them pushing you into that alley.” Steve continued, frowning at the memory.  “I know how it’s like to be bullied and have no one around to help you. I don’t like bullies, and I don’t want others to go through what I had. I wanted to help... I wanted to do the right thing.” He ended softly. Loki gave him a grateful smile.

Regardless of whether Steve had been able to help, Loki appreciated the fact that he tried. The sentiment alone was more than enough. Thor had always jumped in at every opportunity to defend Loki from the taunting of other children back in Asgard ( _that is, when the older boy didn’t join in the teasing as well_ ), but it was different. In those fights and squabbles, Thor had always known that he would win, that it was near impossible for him to embarrass himself in any way during the process. Steven Rogers, however, didn’t.

“Thank you.”

A short awkward silence passed between the two boys after that, where one of them seemed sincerely touched while the other blushed from receiving gratitude from someone he now considered a newly found friend. In the next 3 minutes that passed, Steve Rogers fiddled his thumbs uneasily. The silence was making him uncomfortable, and it didn’t help that he had always been a bit socially awkward. He wasn’t popular. Most of the other kids didn’t like to play with him much because he looked so frail and sickly. Only Bucky stood by him all this time, going out of his way to play chess with Steve, even though he _hated_ chess, and dragging Steve around, introducing him to all the other kids in the orphanage and attempting to include him in their games in a bid to get Steve new friends. Bucky was the social one, not Steve. Steve had never been the life of any party.

But Bucky was not around now. This meant that Steve himself would have to do the talking.

Steve gazed at the dark-haired boy sitting quietly next to him. He liked him. He liked how his big green eyes sparkled with mischief and how innocence shone on his face when he asked questions about things he was genuinely curious about. Loki didn’t make fun of Steve like the other kids did. And Loki was of a small stature like he was as well, (even _though Steve was still scrawnier and more sickly_ ), and this made Steve feel comfortable around him. Steve decided he would very much like to keep him as a friend.

“So... um-” Steve bit his lip nervously as he tried thinking of something to say. “So...” He continued, his voice shaking with slight uncertainty and stopped at once when he saw Loki staring at him expectantly. All the ideas for conversation he had thought of vanished in an instance. “Erm... er...” Steve twiddled his thumbs with increasing anxiety. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” He blurted out at last and Loki appeared amused by his question.

“What do _you_ want to be?” Loki replied with the same question, grinning as he did so. Steve frowned. That didn’t answer his question.

“I asked you first.” The blonde boy pointed out indignantly. After all, it was only fair for Loki to answer his question first, wasn’t it?

Apparently not.

Loki merely giggled at his words.

“All the more you should lead the conversation.” The dark haired boy countered cheekily, giving a mischievous smirk as he did so. Steve only had to take one look at his face to know that there was no point arguing with him about the matter. He was sure that for every reason he gave about why Loki should answer first, the other boy would have ten different excuses to why he shouldn’t. Steve knew that look. It was the same look Bucky gave him when his friend tried to justify that his unjustifiable way of checkmating Steve’s king during chess was legit.

“I’m going to join the army.” Steve declared, his clear blue eyes shining happily at the thought. “I’ll be a soldier, and I’ll protect my country.”

Loki stared blankly at the beaming boy for a second.

“Just a soldier?” The young god asked finally in disbelief. That’s it? A foot soldier? This is the extent of the human boy’s ambitions?

Steve caught the disdain in Loki’s voice and glared at him. Loki shrugged.

“What?” He asked. In all honesty, Loki couldn’t see what the big deal of being a soldier was. He had heard of warriors in Asgard striving to earn the title of the best, to bring honour and glory to themselves, but he had never heard of someone who was content with simply being _a soldier_ in an army. “Why don’t you set your ambitions further? Aim for something nobler, more valiant?” Loki continued, struggling to remember the tales of glorious heroes and wise rulers that his father had recounted to him and Thor in the past.

“Being a soldier _is_ noble and valiant!” Steve said shortly, jumping off the bench from the spot next to Loki. He turned around to face the dark haired boy and pulled himself as much as he could to his full height, which admittedly, was not very tall either. “I will enter the 107 th infantry, just like my dad did!” The boy exclaimed with determination, holding his head up high proudly. “I will do what’s right; help the weak and defend the innocent. I’ll be like my dad, and I’ll protect our country, or die trying.” He finished firmly, keeping his face straight and serious. However, Loki could see a hint of sorrow behind the strong mask Steve Rogers had put on when he talked of his father. It was a mix of sadness, wistful longing, and yet a great amount of unspoken pride.

“Your father...?” Loki trailed off mid-question, his curiosity getting the better of him but not knowing how to continue approaching the topic. Not in ways that would not hurt his new friend. Steve’s hopeful expression faltered a little after hearing Loki’s question, replaced by one of sadness.

“He died in the World War.” Steve replied quietly, gazing down towards the ground. “My mom died too. I’m staying at an orphanage around here now.” The blonde boy kicked away a stray pebble lightly and looked so forlorn that Loki felt terribly guilty for bringing up the topic. He stared at the doleful boy for a moment, not knowing what else he could possibly say to comfort him. However, Steve glanced up after a while and flashed him a tiny rueful smile.

“But it doesn’t matter.” He said, attempting to cheer up the gloomy atmosphere in spite of his own grief. “I miss them... a lot,” He admitted after seeing Loki’s questioning gaze, “but I know they won’t want me to be sad forever. Mom and dad always told me to be strong.” Steve added with a smile and Loki could not help but smile back at the boy. “And I’ll be strong. I will make them proud of me.”

Loki stared at the bright, confident shine in the eyes of the skinny, frail boy before him and felt a surge of warmth swelling up within his own heart. Regardless the odds he faced, this human boy continued harbouring great dreams for his future. His optimism and confidence was touching, and Loki couldn’t help but believe in him despite the seeming problems Steve’s health and built might present for his goals.

“I am sure you will.” He said at last and flashed Steve a warm smile. “You willbe a great soldier.” The young god continued sincerely. Steve gave him an appreciative smile and climbed back up onto the bench next to Loki.

“What about you?” The blonde boy asked eagerly. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Loki gave a chuckle at the question.

“I don’t have to be anything!” The young god replied with a smug grin. “I am already a prince.”

Steve stared incredulously at the conceited boy with his chest puffed out in pride.

“You mean your dad is rich?” He asked at last and Loki scowled at his ‘ _stupid’_ question, unhappy that his friend was not impressed.

“No!” The dark haired boy snapped with an unnecessary nastiness that made Steve cringe a little. He then paused for a moment, pondering about what had just been said. “Well, yes... I guess my father is _wealthy._ ” Loki conceded. After all, Odin _is_ the ruler of Asgard. No one in their right minds would say that he was not ‘rich’. “But, that is not the point!” The young god continued indignantly. “I did not mean it that way when I said I am a prince. I _am_ a prince.” The boy finished with a haughty glance at his friend. Steve bit back the urge to laugh.

“If you say so.” Steve grinned with amusement as he gazed at his smug friend. “But that means it doesn’t count right? As what you’ll want to be in the future?” He explained after seeing Loki’s confused look. “If you’re already a prince now, you can’t say that you want to be a prince when you’re old. That’s not considered an ambition.”

Loki stared at Steve in surprise. His dream... Loki had never thought much about it. The young god was born a prince. His father had said once before that both he and Thor were born to be kings. With this reason and assurance, the boy had never thought much about what he wanted in his future. Loki had always been given all that he desired as soon as he desired them. Well, _almost_ all things...

Steve watched as the dark haired boy beside him remained silent as he pondered the question Steve had asked. His delicate brows furrowed and his nose wrinkled in such a cute way that gave Steve the urge to reach out and pinch it, just for fun, although he knew that this act would not be appreciated. Finally, Loki looked up.

“I want to be respected,” he said quietly. “I want to be as loved as my brother is, and I want to be recognised as a valiant warrior by my own means. I will bring Asgard to greater heights and glory, and I will make the people love me.” Loki declared with conviction shining bright in his eyes and Steve grinned at his friend’s words.

“Sounds great.” He said encouragingly and Loki grinned back.

“Of course it is. It’s my dream.” The darker haired boy drawled and Steve gave a snort of laughter.

“Mine’s better.” He grinned when Loki looked offended almost at once. The young god seemed about to fire back a retort when the clear ringing of a bell sounded in the distance. Both boys turned towards the source of the sound and saw a crowd of children already gathering around a jolly looking man with a cart.

“What’s going on there?” Loki asked out of curiosity, never taking his eyes off the commotion.

“That’s the ice-cream man.” Steve explained as he too, continued gazing at the crowd. Loki gave a soft ‘hmmm’ at his reply and jumped off the bench, making his way towards the Ice-cream man to see what all the fuss was about. Steve stared at the back of his friend for a moment before giving a sigh and sliding off the bench as well, following Loki.

“Ice-cream! Get your ice-cream here!” The large, cheerful looking man called out as he handed out globs of coloured stuff on a cone to children in exchange for what Loki deduced to be coins from them. The young god watched with increasing interest as the human children licked the coloured stuff with joy before deciding that he would like to try one as well. He plucked a leaf from a nearby bush and transformed it into one of the coins he had seen the children use. He then started walking towards the Ice-cream man when Steve suddenly stopped him.

“Are you going to buy an ice-cream?” The scrawny blonde boy asked and Loki nodded. “Well you got to queue first!” Steve pointed to the long line of children in front of the Ice-cream man. Loki stared for a moment at the line before turning back to his friend with an incredulous look. Did he really expect Loki to wait in line along with the other human children? Preposterous! Loki is a prince! He always got what he wanted whenever he wanted it!

Nonetheless, Steve dragged him firmly to the back of the line and there was nothing Loki could do but pout and wait without offending his friend. When it was finally his turn, Loki wasn’t so good-tempered anymore.

“I want one of those.” He ordered haughtily as he pointed at the picture of a stuff-on-a-cone on the cart. The man stared at him in bemusement.

“Which flavour?” He asked. Loki appeared stumped for a moment before gazing around and observing the other children with their cones. He finally made up his mind and pointed at a freckly, red haired boy with a pink coloured one.

“What flavour is he eating?” Loki demanded and the Ice-cream man was stunned for a second before his eyes flicked towards the ice-cream Loki was pointing at.

“Strawberry?” He said uncertainly, shooting Loki a weird look.

“I shall have that.” Loki replied grandly and the man’s brows rose in a mix of amusement and exasperation as he handed the boy a strawberry cone. _Kids these days..._ He shook his head as Loki strutted off ice-cream in hand after handing him a nickel. The man then turned towards Steve, who was so amused by Loki’s antics as well that he _forgot_ that he, too, was standing in the line.

“And what will you have?” He asked the skinny boy kindly, eyeing his scrawny and small physique with pity. _Poor kid... Must not have had enough to eat back at home._

“Huh?” Steve jolted in surprise as he turned to the man addressing him. “Oh no,” He replied hurriedly. “I’m not getting one. I’m sorry for holding up the line.” The boy then flustered off before the ice-cream man could call him back and tell him that he would give him one on the house. He liked children, especially polite ones like Steve, and it saddened him when he saw one so frail looking and weak.

Steve hurried in pursuit of Loki and finally caught up with his friend when the darker haired boy stopped near a pond in the park to give his ice-cream a testing lick. The coldness of the pink stuff surprised him at first. He had not been expecting that. But soon after, a rich, creamy and sweet taste enveloped his tongue and the young god gasped at the sensation. He swallowed and enjoyed the fragrant after taste the pink cream left in his mouth. Loki gave his ice cream another lick and beamed in joy when the second taste was just as delicious at the first. It was then that he realised that Steve was staring at him.

“This ice-cream is divine!” Loki told Steve happily and his friend gave a grin at his excitement. Loki then frowned when he realised Steve didn’t have an ice-cream of his own. “Aren’t you having one?” He asked curiously and Steve shot him a doleful smile.

“I can’t eat cold stuff.” The boy explained sadly. “It’s bad for my... erm... cough.” He ended with a forced shrug. Loki stared at Steve for a moment, not missing the longing look in the boy’s eyes before gazing back at the ice-cream he was holding. Finally, the young god gave a sigh and turned, walking towards a bin he had seen humans disposing of their trash in and reluctantly dropped the heavenly cone inside.

“Hey!” Steve yelled after Loki in shock but rushed forward too late to stop him. He stared in disbelief at the trash bin where Loki’s ice cream was now in before turning to Loki. “You didn’t have to do that.” Steve pointed out. “I wasn’t upset or anything.”

Loki gave an uncaring shrug.

“I didn’t like it.” He lied, putting on a nonchalant expression and refusing to even glance in the direction where his once edible ice-cream now was. “It tasted acceptable at first, but then it became a little sickening.”

Steve stared at Loki for a moment before giving him a knowing, grateful smile.

“Thanks.” The blonde boy said finally but Loki simply rolled his eyes at him.

“I did not do it for you. Please don’t give yourself a false sense of importance.”  The young god replied haughtily and Steve could not help but chuckle. Really, his new friend is too much sometimes!

“It’s getting dark.” Steve said after a while as he glanced up at the reddening sky. Loki gazed up at his friend’s words and noted that yes, the sun was indeed setting. Apparently it had been hours since the young god had left for Midgard, but yet Father hadn’t come to fetch him. Loki’s heart sank at the thought. His face darkened into a sulk and the boy kicked out viciously at a pebble on the ground, sending it flying into the pond with a loud splash. Steve observed the sudden drop in his friend’s mood with a wary silence.

“Erm, I’ve got to head back to the orphanage.” Steve said meekly as he stared at the scowl on Loki’s face. “I’ll get into trouble if I’m not back in time for dinner. Are you going home as well?” He asked, making an attempt to ease the awkward atmosphere. However, Loki’s scowl deepened after hearing his question.

“No, I am not!” The dark haired boy snapped angrily. “I am never going home again!” He added with a childish spite and Steve gaped at him blankly.

“What?” Steve asked after he finally jolted out of his shock. “But why?”

Loki glared at him for a reason he couldn’t fathom.

“My father doesn’t want me anymore.” Loki replied sourly and Steve felt more and more bewildered by the moment.

“That can’t be true.” He argued in disbelief. “All dads love their children. My dad told me so.” Steve pointed out matter-of-factly but Loki snorted.

“Mine doesn’t.” The boy retorted. Steve was at a loss of words for a minute when a sudden thought struck him.

“Wait, you aren’t running away from home, are you?” The blonde boy gasped. Loki turned away from his friend’s horrified face and glared at the stones glinting in the pond in resentment, focusing his attention on them instead.

“No, I am not.” He lied again, digging his nails into the sides of his thighs. “I am not.”

Steve stared at him sympathetically. “So, you don’t have a place to stay now?” He asked and Loki gritted his teeth before give a curt nod. Steve sighed.

“Well, erm... you could come along with me if you want.” Steve offered uncertainly as he gazed at his friend. Loki gave a jolt at his statement and turned to stare at the boy in surprise. Steve flashed him a smile before continuing. “I mean, at least you will have shelter. And I bet there will be a bed for you too. Not to worry though! If there isn’t...” Steve added hastily. “You could always share my bed with me. I’m sharing a bunk bed with my friend Bucky. I take the top bunk.” The boy explained. “But I can’t occupy the whole of the bed by myself obviously. I bet there’s more than enough space for the two of us. We can even build pillow forts!” Steve finished with excitement and Loki found himself grinning along despite his bitterness at Odin.

_I suppose it won’t hurt to stay with Steven for the time being. I can’t return to Asgard. Not now... Not yet..._

_Staying with Steven may even be fun too!_

Loki beamed at the thought and was about to accept Steve’s invitation happily when a familiar voice stopped him.

“Loki.”

The young prince spun around immediately at the sound of the voice and found himself staring at Odin, who looked peculiar dressed in Midgardian clothing.

“Father!”

Steve stared in amusement as his friend, who had so angrily berated his father just minutes ago, bounded happily towards the one-eyed man.

“You came!”

“Yes, I have, Loki.” Odin replied in exasperation as he gazed at his beaming son. “And I hope you do realise that it was wrong of you to leave when I had expressively forbidden you from doing so?” He continued sternly and Loki, for his credit, appeared a little guilty. “I will be dealing with you when we return home.” Loki pouted a bit at this but Odin ignored him and continued. “Would you like to bid farewell to your friend before we leave?” He asked as he shot a glance in Steve’s direction. Loki turned to gaze at his friend and nodded before walking towards the boy.

“Well, your dad seems to love you a lot.” Steve pointed out dryly and Loki glared at him.

“Shut up.”

The two boys shared a look for a moment before breaking out in a laugh. However, soon, their laughter subsided and the air was heavy with silence once more.

“So, you’re going home now?” Steve asked awkwardly and Loki gave him a sad nod.

“Indeed, I am afraid I cannot accept your invitation anymore. Although it sounded... fun.” Loki admitted and Steve flashed him a rueful smile.

“It’s alright.” The boy said, his voice warm and assuring. “I bet you won’t like it there anyway. Bucky snores a lot.” He added with a mischievous glint in his eyes and Loki laughed in amusement at the quip. “Besides, there’s always next time. We will be meeting again next time, right?” Steve asked, giving Loki a hopeful look. Loki took one glance at the eagerness in his eyes and couldn’t find the heart to tell him that their first meeting may well be their last.

“Perhaps,” Loki muttered, shuffling his feet sheepishly as he did so. Steve bought his lie and grinned happily at him.

“Great! I’m glad to meet a friend like you today!” The boy exclaimed and Loki smiled.

“Same to you. I am honoured to have you as my friend.”

Steve grinned at Loki, partially out of the fact that he found his friend’s fancy use of language amusing and patted him on the shoulder. Loki grinned and his gaze flicked once more to the dark bruise on Steve’s cheek. The one he had gotten by standing up for Loki, even when he knew he didn’t had a chance.

“You will work hard to pursue your dreams? Yes?” Loki asked suddenly and Steve appeared surprised by the random question before his eyes flashed once again with that fiery determination Loki admired. He nodded firmly.

“Of course.” Steve replied and he paused for a moment before continuing. “You too, okay? Don’t give up on your dreams. You’ll make a great prince.” He added jokingly and Loki laughed.

“And you, a great soldier.”

Steve flashed him one final grin before waving him goodbye. The boy then turned and gave Odin a polite nod as well before leaving. Loki watched the back of his friend sadly as he walked further and further away into the distance and felt a large hand resting on his shoulder comfortingly.

“He is a fine boy.” Odin murmured from beside Loki as he too, observed the frail, skinny boy in the distance. Loki nodded.

_Indeed, and he is a fine friend._

Loki shot the distant figure of Steve one final doleful look before allowing himself to be led away by his father.

_Thank you for being my friend, Steven Rogers._

XXX

Loki was grounded for a week in his chambers for the run-away stunt he pulled. Then, afterwards, he wasn’t allowed to go to Midgard by himself either. Despite his protests, his father had stated clearly that it was too dangerous for a boy to travel to the other realms unsupervised. Heimdall was ordered to keep a close watch on him, to ensure that he didn’t manage to sneak off without Odin’s permission and this meant that the young prince had no chance at all to meet his new friend again.

Loki stormed. Loki raged. But to no avail. The only bright side was that when Thor came to him to ask him about his experiences on Midgard, the boy was able to feed him with fantastic tales of hideous dragons, fire-spitting serpents and valiant blonde knights. The awed shine in his older brother’s eyes after listening to these stories amused Loki for days.

Loki didn’t forget about Steven Rogers that easily though. At the very first opportunity he had, the young prince consulted his teachers about the art of astral projection. It allowed him to be able to let his mind to wander off to distant places and realms so that he would be able to observe events from afar. It wasn’t easy, but after months and months of practise, Loki had been able to project his mind to Midgard for short spans of time, only as much as 10 minutes or so, to see his mortal friend.

He gritted his teeth in anger as he watched Steve being cornered and bullied by other kids twice his size back in deserted alleyways. He heaved sighs of relief whenever another bigger boy, whom he now knew to be Bucky Barnes, came to his friend’s aid when needed and bit his lip in worry whenever Bucky was not around and Steve had to fend off the attacks by himself. He watched, impressed, when Steve got back up on his feet after every fight, the fire in his eyes never diminished. He laughed and chuckled as he watched Steve give patriotic and inspiring speeches to the other children in the orphanage, acting not like a boy his age but more like an adult, a soldier that the scrawny blonde boy had always dreamed of being.

Little by little, without Loki himself noticing, he grew more and more emotionally attached to this human boy he considered a friend. Whenever he got into trouble, whenever his moods became low, Loki would never fail to allow his mind to wander off to Steve, to see how the boy was doing. Somehow, Steven Rogers became a central part of his childhood; his experiences a weird sort of refuge for Loki to escape to and observe whenever the young god’s own life was plagued with troubles. He became a source of strength for the young prince, a constant beacon of reminder that all the obstacles he faced can and will be overcome as long as he persevered. Steve became the friend Loki constantly thought about, and there were many times when Loki could not help but sadly wonder if Steve still remembered Loki just as Loki remembered him.

However, as years passed, things began to change.

As Loki grew older, he realised that the securities and happiness his childhood provided were all illusions. The magic he honed in his lessons during his growth will never be as appreciated as the battle skills his older brother learnt. Regardless of what he did, Thor will always have more friends, Thor will always come up tops, and Thor will always be the one who’s loved and recognised. Loki will not. As his struggles to gain acknowledgement like his brother grew increasingly difficult, the child-like innocence in Loki dwindled to nothing and envy and spite sprouted to take its place. The trickster’s harmless pranks grew more malicious, and his silver tongue spewed words that cut and wound instead of tease.

Little by little, Loki started visiting Steven Rogers less, too engrossed in his books of magic and warfare in attempts to prove himself.

Finally, after many years of being caught up in the endless, fruitless race that Loki had tangled himself into in hopes of catching up to Thor, the once naive boy grew into a shrewd, calculating trickster. He forgot about the love, happiness and fun he had shared with Thor as children. He forgot the simple joys he once had from simply studying magic for interest, not competition. He forgot about the grand, beautiful dreams he once had as a child.

He forgot about Steven Rogers.

XXX

“No, Loki.”

The words cut so deeply into Loki’s heart that he thought he might die on the spot. And perhaps he did. The hopeful smile on the younger god’s face faded in nothingness as he stared up at his father, who was holding on to Thor tightly as his older brother struggled to hold on to his end of the spear which Loki was clinging to. Below him, the abyss he and Thor had created from the destruction of the Bifrost swirled and churned, its forces pulling him towards it.

_No, Loki._

They were simple words. Words he had heard many times before. However, this time, these simple words were fatal.

Hadn’t Odin said this to him many times in the past? Why had Loki been so stubborn? Why hadn’t he understood what his father was trying to tell him? That all he had been chasing after had never been his in the first place. The last hopeful bit of Loki cried out and vanished inside of him as he stared up blankly at his supposed family, his gaze now hollow and empty. The cool metal of the Gungnir burned fiercely in his hand, reminding him once more of his failures and delusions.

It hurt.

“Loki, no...” Thor pleaded as he watched his brother’s grip loosing on the spear. The Thunder god panicked, but there was nothing his could do in his current position. Loki’s hand slipped off the end of the Gungnir as he released his grip, allowing himself to plunge down into the dark swirling abyss below.

As Loki fell, he kept his gaze fixed on his father and brother, seeing in their shocked expressions without truly seeing and hearing his brother’s desperate screams without truly hearing. Everything was in a standstill, and it was as though the fallen god had merely become an observer. One that watched as he himself plummeted into the darkness but no longer cared or felt. For once, Loki felt a strange serenity within himself as he observed the dark starry space around him.

_Had it always been this cold? Or was it simply that I had never noticed it before?_

Loki closed his eyes in resignation, blocking out the images of Odin and Thor, the ones who had claimed to love him but instead, hurt him the most. He felt the rush of the energy of the abyss enveloping around him and felt an ironic sense of relief at the situation. At least he was safe now.

No one else can hurt him, not now, not here.

XXX

“Wake up!”

A sharp pang of pain shot through Loki’s head and the god jolted up, wide-eyed and shocked.

_Where am I? Am I not dead?_

The god’s gaze flitted tensely around his surroundings and came to a stop when it rested on a large bulky figure before him. The figure’s beady red eyes gleamed evilly as he looked at Loki and he flashed a huge grin, showing off rows of pearly white teeth. It unnerved Loki, how the features of this being glowed in the darkness of the space and how his deep purple skin shone so surreally.

“What is your name, godling?” The being’s low voice rumbled and echoes from the barren land around them carried his voice back to Loki eerily. The god closed his eyes without answering, trying to block out the cold fear that was now pitting in his stomach.

“Answer him!”

The cold sharp voice that had woken Loki up rang again and Loki felt long scaly fingers grasping his head for a second before another sharp, head splitting pain elicited a reluctant cry from the god’s lips. As Loki doubled over, nauseous and giddy from the pain, he heard a low rumble of amused laughter from the purple being.

“Oh yes, I think he will come in useful.”

XXX

“I said- KNEEL!” Loki snarled and bright azure lights beamed from the sceptres in his and his clones’ hands, connecting them in a square that shepherded the crowded of terrified mortals before him. One by one, the humans dropped to their knees and bowed their heads submissively, not daring to even glance at the person who had so heartlessly dug out a man’s eye before them without as much as a blink of his eyes.

Loki chuckled.

“Is not this simpler?” He smirked, gloating in the feeling of power he had over the lesser mortals. “Is this not your natural state?” Loki continued, starting to make his way through the crowd and enjoying how the mortals before him hastily shuffled away on their knees to make way for his path. Yes, this is how it should all be.

“It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation.” Loki declared as he continued taking even, measured steps into the middle of the crowd. “The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power... for identity.” A pair of glowing red eyes flashed in Loki’s mind as he said these words, and a sudden surge of bitterness rose inside his heart again. His grip on the sceptre tightened as he fought to control his emotions, to stop the memories of his past failures from affecting him now.

_Not now..._

“You were made to be ruled.” He continued, keeping his voice steady and calm. “In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki finished with a triumphant grin.

“Not to men like you.”

Loki turned in surprise to the one who dared to challenge his authority and was even more stunned when he saw that it was an old man. However, he quickly composed himself again and flashed the old man a condescending smile.

“There are no men like me.” He sneered, but the old man’s jaw tightened as he glared defiantly back at the god.

“There are always men like you.” The old man countered evenly and Loki’s grin faltered. This mortal was challenging him. He doubted Loki’s worth. He dared to demean the god; after all Loki had been through...

Loki gave a cold laugh.

“Look to your elder, people,” the god said with an evil smirk. “Let him be an example.” Loki pointed the sceptre at the old man, whose eyes widened with fear, and fired a blast of energy, meaning to kill the insufferable human on the spot. However, a sudden flash of red, white and blue leapt down in front of the man and reflected the blast back to Loki, knocking him off his feet. Loki scrambled back onto his hands and knees with a snarl, turning his attention immediately to the new threat before realising that it was a man donned in a uniform with the colours of the American flag and holding a slightly smoking vibranium shield.

Captain America.

Loki hissed quietly as he got back up on his feet. Clint Barton had told him about the response team that Nick Fury had planned to form in retaliation to any potential threats to the pathetic planet. Loki had laughed scornfully at the idea, and he had been looking forward to test the mettle of Fury’s beloved team. However, he had not expected to be meeting one of them so soon.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany,” Captain America started matter-of-factly as he advanced through the crowd towards Loki, “and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”

Loki’s lips curled up in a cold smirk at the man’s words. He was about to reply when he suddenly spotted something uncanny and stopped. The Captain’s eyes; they shone with a familiar fiery determination.

_I know those eyes._

Loki stared for a moment before recalling with a sudden jolt of epiphany where he had seen that exact same gaze before: On a scrawny, frail blonde boy from 90 years ago.

The god’s brows furrowed at the thought.

_But it’s not possible!_

He immediately ran through all the facts about Captain America that Clint Barton had reported to him and realised that it was true, that he had not been imagining things. It all clicked into place. The injection of the superhuman serum, the transformation of a frail, sickly man into a healthy, super enhanced hero, and the miraculous survival of that hero for 70 years in the Antarctic ice. The name Barton had provided him with earlier had sounded familiar, but Loki just couldn’t place his finger on where he had heard it before.

He knew now.

“The soldier.” Loki laughed and his face broke out into a wide grin at the recognition of the human he had considered a friend many years ago. However, he stopped himself abruptly when he realised what he was doing. He did not come here to Earth to meet up with old friends and engage in friendly chats! Loki came to Earth with the intent to rule it. The past didn’t matter anymore. Past feelings and friendships didn’t matter anymore. Loki was now burdened with glorious purpose. If anyone, even Steve Rogers and his brother, tried to stand in his path, he would eliminate them.

“The man out of time.” Loki sneered in attempts to cover up his earlier slip. Captain America fixed him with a level gaze and Loki could see in the man’s eyes that he had no recognition or memory of the god at all. None.

Loki ignored the bit of childish indignation gnawing at his heart and gazed back at the Captain stonily. This was the boy who had earned Loki’s friendship decades ago. They had shared their hopes and dreams together when they were young, and they had forged a mutual respect and bond for each other in the span of a few hours. This was the boy who had touched Loki’s heart deeply in the past, only for it to be shattered years later by the cold, unfeeling jeers from the Asgardian society. He was the boy, who had persevered in his dreams and succeeded, earning him the love of his people while Loki had failed utterly in his, gaining nothing but scorn and hatred.

Loki smiled sadly at the thought.

_Yes, Steven Rogers, I remember you._


	2. You Forgot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My muse came up again, so you guys get your new chapter ;) Enjoy!

“I’m not the one who’s out of time.” Steve Rogers replied dryly and a Quinjet soared into view behind him. Loki glared irritably at the jet behind his once-friend.

_So Steven had brought allies..._

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” A woman’s stern voice sounded from the jet. Loki rolled his eyes at the useless request before jerking the sceptre in the jet’s direction and firing a bright blue blast from his sceptre towards it. The attack narrowly missed as the Quinjet swerved swiftly out of the way. Captain America immediately retaliated by flinging his vibranium shield at the god, hitting him squarely on the collarbone. Loki grunted in pain and stumbled back a step from the sheer force, so distracted by the blow and the screams of the mortals around him that he did not even realise that Steve Rogers had drawn close to him until the man landed a solid punch to his jaw. The blinding pain stunned Loki momentarily as he stared back blankly at Steve. However, it wasn’t long before the god snapped back to his senses and his lips curled into a snarl.

_So this is how it’s going to be?_

With a vicious hiss, Loki struck out at Steve with his sceptre, clashing metal on metal as the Captain brought up his vibranium shield to block the blow. Undeterred, Loki swung the sceptre ferociously, knocking the shield to one side with his superior strength and leaving Steve with his defences open. The god then struck the man hard in the chest with his sceptre, eliciting a cry of pain and causing him to be thrown back from the impact. Loki watched as Steve rolled back up onto his knees, feeling his initial anger at the punch that his once-friend had given him ebb away gradually. It was eventually replaced by amusement when the Captain’s head lifted and the man shot a glare at Loki, the fiery will and defiance burning fiercely once again in his eyes.

Yes, Loki remembered that look, with a certain amount of fondness in fact. Steven Rogers had that same look when he had defended Loki from the bullies years ago. However, a tinge of pain bit into Loki’s heart when he remembered that it is different now. Things have changed. Loki is now in the present and not the past. That fearless gaze that had once protected Loki is now against him. Loki is now the enemy; he is now the bully the Steven Rogers is fighting against, not for.

As though to echo his sentiments, Captain America flung his shield hard at Loki the very next second, attempting to knock the god down again. Loki managed to snap out of his thoughts in time to deflect the shield with his sceptre, sending it clattering across the gravel ground a few metres away. Steve charged towards Loki, throwing a punch at the god’s face which Loki avoided. The god retaliated with a vicious swing of his sceptre, slashing the air where Steve’s head was just seconds ago before the man ducked to dodge his enemy. Loki swung his sceptre down once more, striking the ground forcefully when his attack missed. Steve, who had dodged to the right, punched Loki hard on the side. However, protected by his armour and superior Aesir physique, Loki was not winded in the least. He did feel a blunt pain though, and the god could not help but secretly muse about how Steve had gotten so much stronger since Loki had last known him.

_Had the serum really been so effective?_

Loki struck Steve across the back with his sceptre, sending the Captain lurching forwards and sprawling onto the ground with a grunt of pain. The god smirked at his little victory and strode smugly towards his fallen adversary. For a moment, the god idly wondered if he should use the sceptre’s powers on Steve, to turn his past-friend into his current-ally instead of enemy. However, by the time he was close enough to the Captain to strike, Loki saw him struggling to get back onto his feet again with his usual air of determination and decided against it.

_No, Steven is more fun to toy with in his normal state._

Instead of using the pointed end of the sceptre where the glowing blue gem was, as he had originally planned, Loki lifted the sceptre and placed the blunt end firmly on Steve’s head before the man could rise, forcing him to stay on his kneeled-down position with his head bowed.

“Kneel.” The God of Mischief commanded, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Captain America grabbed the end of the sceptre and swiped it furiously away from his head. “Not today!”

The man then promptly got onto his feet and spun, leaping to land a solid kick to Loki’s chest while airborne. Loki stumbled backwards from the impact and winced at the blow. The pain from this hit stirred up the vengeful anger burning within the god once again and when Steve charged forward to strike out at the god again, Loki grabbed him by the neck and flung him away viciously. He watched as the Captain rolled on the ground painfully and his anger subsided as quickly as it had risen.

_What am I doing?_

Loki stared as Steve landed on his side with a pained grimace and the god’s own face hardened. _Steven Rogers is no longer a friend_ , he berated himself angrily as he advanced on the man. _He is now an enemy, one who would stand in your path._

A small, sharp dagger materialised in Loki’s hand as he approached the man. If Steven Rogers were to die, then Loki would rather that his death came at Loki’s hand, using Loki’s own weapon, rather than the weapon of another. The muscles in the god’s right arm tensed up as he prepared to land the finishing blow, but for a second the god hesitated, his heart beating furiously against his chest as he felt the cold metal of the dagger in his hand. He watched as Steve struggled to push himself up and pictured the man falling back onto the ground, wide-eyed and never to rise again. An empty feeling hollowed in Loki’s heart at the image.

_But he is the enemy..._

Loki steeled his features once more and gripped the dagger in his hand tightly. However, before he could make his next move, a loud obnoxious music blared through the silent night air. Both Steve and Loki stared up into the sky with looks of equal surprise and the very next moment, a bright flash of red and gold blasted through the air. Loki didn’t even have the time to gape at the spectacle when he felt himself being thrown back by a sudden blast of energy and landed painfully on the stone stairs leading up to the building. Bright lights flashed in Loki’s eyes at the pain and the god was unable to stop himself from giving a low hiss at the ache in his back. By the time Loki composed himself once more and sat up, a metallic figure was standing tall before him, pointing repulsors and weapons of all sorts at the god while the atrocious music ended on a high, dramatic note.

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.” The figure ordered in an equally metallic voice.

Loki watched as Steve Rogers strode over to stand by the figure, who the god now recognised to be Iron Man, with his shield readied in his hand. As Loki glared back stonily at his two adversaries, he silently contemplated his next move.

The god was now outnumbered; it was not wise now to charge head-on into the fight when the odds were against him. If Loki allowed himself to be taken, he would have the opportunity to test the mettle of Fury’s team, just as he had wanted. Furthermore, Loki thought as he fixed his gaze on Steve Rogers, there were still things of interest to him, right where they would take him.

The god allowed his helmet and armour to fade away into non-existence, the gold shimmering in the dark as it did so. He then lifted his hands in a show of surrender and almost immediately, the missiles and weapons on Iron Man retracted back into the suit.

“Good move.” Iron Man praised sarcastically as he lowered his arms and the lights of the repulsors in the palms of the suit faded.

“Mr Stark.”

Loki watched as Steve nodded slightly in the Iron Man’s direction, greeting him with a tad more amiability than he had for Loki. A slight tinge of bitterness that he could not fathom rose in his heart again.

“Captain.” The Iron Man, Tony Stark, if Clint Barton had not fed Loki the wrong information, greeted back. Behind them, the Quinjet lowered and hovered increasingly near to the ground. Loki glared at the two men with a mixture of resentfulness and spite as they guarded him together, refusing to give the god any chance to escape.

_Foolish mortals! I would have teleported if I had wanted to leave!_

Loki smirked quietly to himself as Steve came forward and gripped him firmly by the arm, leading him towards the Quinjet.

Things are about to get interesting...

XXX

“I don’t like it.”

Loki heard Steve mutter quietly to Tony Stark, who had his helmet removed while they were on the Quinjet. The man looked as annoying as his voice had sounded.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?”

Yes, Loki was right. He is _insufferable._

“I don’t remember it being that easy,” Loki heard Steve reply and from the corner of his eye, saw the man shooting a doubtful glance at him. “This guy packs a wallop.” A smug grin tugged at the edges of Loki’s lips as he listened to the words that were not originally meant to be a compliment.

After Captain America had removed his cowl on the Quinjet, giving Loki a clear view of his face for the first time since they had met again, the god was able to confirm with full confidence that yes, this man is indeed the same boy from 90 years ago. Steven Rogers may have gotten taller and more muscular, but his facial features were all the same. The once faded memory of the scrawny, blonde boy in Loki’s mind slowly became vivid again and with the grown-up version of his past friend before him, the god was able to piece back a clear image of the young Steven Rogers once more. One that he had forgotten years ago.

“Still, you’re pretty spry... for an older fellow,” Loki listened as Tony Stark quipped back to Steve and hid his own amused chuckle at the blonde man’s irritation. “What’s your thing? Pilates?” Tony continued under the Captain’s incredulous stare.

“What?”

It’s like calisthenics,” Tony Stark replied matter-of-factly and Loki could hear the smirk in the man’s voice. “You might have missed a couple of things you know, doing time as a Capsicle.”

Loki’s sides ached from the effort of resisting a laugh as he observed Steve’s annoyed expression.

_It appears that Steven is still as easy to tease now as he was when he was a child._

The Captain’s lip thinned for a moment as he glared at Tony Stark. “Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” The man said at last, still giving his supposed ally a bemused glare.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.” Tony confirmed, still not meeting the Captain’s gaze. Loki took in the conversation with interest. So the communication between Fury and his men isn’t all as good as the Director had made it out to be, is it?

Loki smirked at the idea. He could make use of that.

All of a sudden, a loud crash of thunder sounded and bright white flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. Loki’s heart jolted at the sounds of the rumbling thunder and started thumping vigorously against his chest again. His instincts for danger told him that something bad was about to happen. Something really bad.

“Where’s this coming from?”

Loki heard the red-haired woman at the front of the Quinjet wonder and he gave a quiet scornful laugh at the mortal’s ignorance. Where else, but from the loud boastful Thor?

Another loud clap of thunder sounded and the Quinjet started to rock a little too vigorously for Loki’s nerves. The god glanced about edgily, trying to calm himself down as he readied himself for Thor’s seemingly impossible arrival.

_But Thor couldn’t possibly come here! The Bifrost is destroyed; there are no other possible ways of transportation. Unless..._

Loki’s brows furrowed and he was so distracted by his own train of thoughts that he actually _jumped_ in shock when Steve suddenly spoke to him.

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” The Captain asked dryly. Loki inhaled sharply.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.” The god replied, casting a restless gaze upwards and forgetting in his nervousness that the man he was speaking to was no longer a friend, but an enemy. He remembered a second later.

Before Loki could kick himself in frustration at having revealed a sign of weakness to his foes, the Quinjet gave a jolt and shuddered violently as something heavy landed on the roof of the jet. Everyone’s gaze shot up abruptly at where the source of disruption was and Loki felt an involuntary shiver down his spine.

_No..._

He watched as Tony Stark, who had helmet back on, touched a button of a panel on the wall of the Quinjet and opened the rear hatch of the jet.

_You fool!_

“What are you doing?” Steve cried out from the front of the jet, echoing Loki’s sentiments. However, Tony Stark ignored the man and strode grimly towards the rear, presumably about to go outside to check the reason for the commotion when someone landed on the lowered hatch of the jet as heavily as he had on the roof. Someone Loki had never wanted to see again.

The trickster’s eyes widened apprehensively as he took in the image of his furious brother. The Iron Man lifted a hand to aim his repulsor at Thor, but before he could even start up the repulsor, Thor punched the Mjolnir into the man’s chest, propelling him backwards onto the ground with a loud metallic clank. Loki gave a hiss of fright and scrambled up immediately to flee. However, the god barely made a few steps before Thor grabbed him firmly by the neck. The Thunder God shot his deviant brother a wordless, intimidating glare and dragged him towards the hatch where he leapt off the Quinjet, pulling a scared and reluctant Loki along with him.

After a long fall where the cold night wind cut sharply into Loki’s skin and his stomach lurched violently enough to make the god nauseous, they landed on an isolated cliff in one of the remote regions of Midgard. Loki landed hard on his back where Thor had thrown him, wincing at the impact of the hard, rocky ground against his body. He was winded for a moment and groaned at the pain before turning it into a cold, mirthless laughter.

He refused to show anymore weakness. Not in front of Thor.

“Where’s the Tesseract?” He heard Thor ask grimly.

Loki chuckled. “Oh, I’ve missed you too.” He replied mockingly. Thor was apparently not amused by his joke.

“Do I look to be in the gaming mood?” The Thunder god demanded testily and Loki smirked at how easily he could get on his brother’s nerves again. It seems as though he had not lost his touch after all.

“Oh you should thank me!” Loki gasped with breathless laughter as he sat up, ignoring the pain of his bruised back. “With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All Father have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth?” The god added the last part bitingly as he struggled to pull himself up to his feet again. 

A loud thunk was heard as Thor dropped the Mjolnir onto the ground and strode forward furiously, grabbing Loki by the arm and hoisting his brother up straight again. Loki struggled against the Thunder god’s strong grip, but to no avail as the larger, bulkier god tightened his hold and used his other hand to grab the trickster by the side of his collar. Loki braced himself for the blow that never came and instead was surprised when one of Thor’s fingers touched the side of his face in an almost endearing caress. He stared back at Thor in confusion and saw a flicker of hurt and sorrow in his brother’s eyes.

“I thought you dead.” Thor said at last with an unsuppressed sadness in his voice. The sadness tore into Loki’s heart.

He stared at his brother for a moment. “Did you mourn?”

Loki didn’t know what to expect for the answer. He wasn’t even thinking clearly now. Seeing Steven Rogers again, when he had not expected to, already had a huge toll on the god’s mental state. Seeing _Thor_ again, and hearing the sadness, sorrow and longing in his brother’s words was too much. Too much for Loki to bear.

“We all did.” Thor replied dolefully. “Our father-” This snapped Loki out of his trance. He lifted a finger abruptly to stop Thor’s words.

“Your father.” Loki sneered, placing cold, unfeeling emphasis on every word. He shook away Thor’s grip on him forcefully and watched with cold satisfaction as the look of sadness on his brother’s face turn into one of confused anger.

“He did tell you about my true parentage, did he not?” Loki shrugged as he stepped past Thor and walked further down the cliff, reaching a hand behind to nurse his sore aching back. He could already see the indignation on his brother’s face behind him without even glancing behind. Thor had always been predictable.

“We were raised together!” Loki listened as his brother’s voice rose in protest to Loki’s earlier statement. “We played together, we fought together! Do you remember none of that?” Thor ended sadly and Loki closed his eyes in pain at the memory. He took a second to compose himself and put on an unfeeling steely expression. Loki would no longer let emotions affect him. It was a sign of weakness.

The god spun around and gazed coldly at his not-brother. “I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness.” He spat out bitterly and Thor seemed utterly at a loss for words. “I remember you tossing me into an abyss,” Loki continued a tad untruthfully, ignoring all but his urge to send Thor on a guilt trip. “I who was and should be king!” He ended furiously and felt the burning anger and bitterness rising from within him again. However, Loki did not bother to hold in his emotions this time; not when the target of his fury and spite was standing before him.

“So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?” Thor asked incredulously as he glared at Loki. “No, the Earth is under my protection Loki.” He warned and stepped forward towards the trickster, pointing his finger at him threateningly. Loki laughed in his face.

“And you’re doing a marvellous job with that!” He chuckled at the enraged look on Thor’s face. “The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret! I mean to rule them, and why should I not?” Loki ended matter-of-factly while Thor gave him an exasperated look. Loki felt a growing indignation at the disapproving expression on the Thunder god’s face. He hadn’t said anything wrong!

“You think yourself above them?”

Thor’s question stumped Loki.

The God of Mischief stared back at his brother in disbelief, attempting to see if the other had been joking. Did Thor know that the question he asked was so obvious that it was stupid? Surely he must be teasing! But Loki saw no hints of mirth on Thor’s face, and given how the Thunder god had never been one to hide his emotions, knew that his brother was serious. Dead serious.

_Thor always had a knack for asking idiotic questions._

“Well yes.” Loki answered incredulously and Thor gazed at him sadly.

“Then you miss the truth of ruling brother,” the Thunder god replied. Loki’s stunned expression turned into one of anger when he realised what Thor implied. “The throne would suit you ill.”

Loki gave a snarl of rage and shoved Thor aside roughly, striding back up towards the top of the cliff.

“I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about!” Loki shouted in anger against the strong whistling wind that carried his voice in echoes around the barren area. “I’ve grown, Odin’s son, in my exile!” He spun around to face Thor with a cold smirk when he reached the top. “I’ve seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it-”

“Who showed you this power?” Thor cut Loki short mid-speech and strode up towards his stunned brother furiously. “Who controls the would-be king?”

As Loki listened to Thor’s words, a glowing pair of evil red eyes flashed in his mind again. The god blinked and a cold surge of horror rose up again in his stomach.

“I AM a king!” Loki snarled but Thor grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and shook him, forcing him a few steps backwards.

“Not here!” Thor roared in anger and Loki gave an involuntary wince at the volume. “You give up the Tesseract! You give up this pointless dream!” The Thunder god continued bellowing and paused for a moment before his expression softened. He placed his hand against Loki’s neck again in a grip that was firm but did not hurt. “You come home.”

Loki stared back into the pleading eyes of his brother and felt another pang of sorrow in his heart. _Home..._

He wanted to go home. He wanted to return to his family. But homes and families were not supposed to bring hurt; they were not supposed to cause pain. Loki no longer had a home, or a family.

Loki gave a soft laugh. He intended it to be cold and mocking, but it came out sad and wrangled instead. Loki clenched his fists tightly in frustration at himself. At his weakness.

“I don’t have it.” Loki said quickly, hoping to stop Thor from noticing his emotion. It worked.

Loki smirked inwardly as he watched Thor’s pleading expression turn furious. The Thunder god gave a growl, stepped backwards from his brother and summoned his hammer, brandishing it threateningly before the wayward god.

_So it has come to this, again..._

“You need the cube to bring me home,” Loki said hurriedly before Thor could swing the Mjolnir at him. He flashed a smug smirk when Thor stopped promptly. “But I’ve sent it off, I know not where.” He finished with glee and Thor glared at him furiously. The Thunder god pointed his hammer at Loki menacingly.

“You listen well Brother,” Thor warned but before he could finish his sentence, a bright flash of light knocked him off the cliff. Loki was left staring into an empty space where his brother had been seconds ago with a mix of amusement and mirth on his face.

“I’m listening.” The edges of Loki’s lips quirked up into a smirk. He turned after a moment towards the direction where his brother now was and watched with glee as the buffoon fought it out with the Iron Man. A strike of lightning came crashing down onto the Earth and Loki observed with interest as Thor directed it at the Man of Iron with no effect other than to give the mortal more power for a counter strike. The God of Mischief took note of that: Electricity will not be useful against Tony Stark.

He then laughed when the Iron Man flew towards Thor and tackled him though numerous trees and obstacles in the forest. That had got to hurt.

_So this is Fury’s special team... How disappointing._

Loki smirked and turned from where Thor and Stark were continuing their fight. There was no point in staying any longer. He would let the two self-proclaimed ‘heroes’ hash it out among themselves. Loki had better things to do than to stay and watch as they tore each other to shreds. 

However, before he could teleport, Loki spotted a flash of metal as something, or somebody, raced towards the part of the forest where fight was taking place. The god took a closer look and realised with a jolt who it was.

_Steven Rogers._

Loki gaped for a moment, forgetting about his plan to leave and instead, watched apprehensively as the Captain reached Thor and the Iron Man, stopping their battle by tossing his shield at them and knocking them apart. His heart raced when he saw that Steve appeared to say something which angered Thor greatly, and a rush of anxiety rose within him when his brother smashed the Mjolnir ferociously into the Man of Iron, sending him flying backwards and crashing into a tree. Loki knew that the god’s wrath will turn on Steven Rogers soon.

_But Thor wouldn’t use his Mjolnir on a mortal, would he?_

Loki stared in horror as Thor leapt towards Captain America, raising his hammer and bringing it down heavily onto the man. Before Loki could cry out, Steve Rogers lifted his shield to block the blow and a loud ‘clang’ as well as a blinding white flash of light rang out. Loki instinctively shielded his eyes from the bright glare of the light and glanced out immediately the next second, anxious to know the fate of his past friend. It took a moment for the smoke and cloud of dust to clear, but when it did, the god managed to spot Steve Rogers, Thor and Tony Stark standing together in a clear barren patch of the forest, looking around their surroundings somewhat stupidly.

He heaved a sigh of relief.

As it seems, Steven Rogers never ceased to amaze him. The soldier had apparently transformed from a child who couldn’t even take a punch from a boy into a man that could block a blow from Thor’s Mjolnir and still stand his ground, unharmed and as steady as ever.

Loki was impressed.

He wasn’t the very next second though, when all three men he had been observing turned their heads towards him and shot stony glares in his direction. It appears that he had truly forgotten about escaping during the scruffle in his haste to see how Captain America fared in the fight.

Loki scowled.

Once again, he had allowed his emotions to get the better of him.

XXX

His men had infiltrated the Hellicarrier, and Fury’s team was in a mess. The last Loki heard, the green mindless beast had been unleashed, and the so-called team of ‘heroes’ were now fighting among themselves. Regardless of god, beast or mortal, they were all no match for Loki’s wit.

Loki smirked as he teleported behind the mortal threatening his illusion with a huge gaudy gun and speared the human through the centre of his back with the sharp end of his sceptre. He listened as the human gave a gasp of pain and dropped to the ground. Beside him, Thor, who was trapped in the container that once held Loki, screamed in rage. Loki blocked out the desperate cries of his brother, and strode nonchalantly past the dying mortal, over to the panel which controlled Thor’s fate. He spun to face Thor, and gave a mocking shrug before lifting the cover in the centre of the panel and pushing the button underneath.

The floor beneath the container Thor was in separated and the wind from outside gushed in. Thor flashed Loki a hurt, forlorn look before stepping back into the middle of the container. Loki stared back stonily at his not-brother, and in a matter of seconds, the container was sucked out of the Hellicarrier through the gaping hole, plummeting down onto the Earth below.

Loki exhaled sharply, reminding- _forcing_ \- himself not to feel anything unnecessary and turned away from the empty space where Thor had been. He was about to leave when a weak voice stopped him.

“You’re going to lose.”

Loki spun back to face the dying human on the ground and stared at him incredulously. It took the god a moment to find his tongue.

“Am I?” He asked in disbelief and the human stared back at him blankly.

_What would a mortal, with his last seconds ticking away, know?_

“It’s in your nature.” The human replied monotonously and Loki gave a cold laugh.

“Your heroes have scattered.” Loki chuckled as he took as step closer to the mortal. “Your floating fortress falls from the sky.” The god’s smirk then turned into one of mock confusion. “Where is my disadvantage?” He asked sarcastically and the human stared back with his own look of dry mirth.

“You lack conviction.” He retorted and Loki’s brows furrowed in indignation at the human’s words.

“I don’t think I-”

Before Loki could voice his protests, the mortal fired a strong blast from the gun he held, knocking back the god into the walls of the Hellicarrier. Loki grunted in pain as he picked himself off the ground and leant against the wall for support.

“So that’s what it does.” He heard the mortal deadpan and felt a strong rage bellowing from within him.

_Bested again! And by a mortal!_

However, before Loki could storm over and shred the insufferable human to pieces, a couple of his foot soldiers rushed over and started leading him out of the Hellicarrier. Loki had shaken them off irritably, but the men insisted, panicking about fallen commanders and enemy counterattacks. Loki hissed impatiently and allowed himself to be hurried away by his incompetent subordinates, thinking spitefully about how the human ought to count himself lucky that he could die in one piece.

When Loki was in his own jet again, leaving the smoking remains of the Hellicarrier far behind, he shot the enemy’s fortress one last glance.

_You lack conviction._

Loki gave a cold smirk as the human’s words echoed once more in his head. He lacked conviction, did he? Well, he would show them...

XXX

The screams of the humans and explosive blasts from the battle around him filled Loki’s ears as he stood regally on the flying vehicle one of the Chitauri piloted, observing the chaos below with a smirk.

At the rate this was going, with even more of his Chitauri army bound to enter through the portal, Loki was sure that it would only be a matter of time before he was able to conquer the planet. The Avengers’ might were dwindling, and with the exception of Thor, they were all only mortal; they would fall soon enough.

Loki grinned at the thought. Yes, it was only a matter of time before he struck them down, one by one just like flies.

 _Especially that one._..  

The god’s gaze fixed onto the blue, red and white clad figure of Captain America, who was fighting off a hoard of Chitauri fearlessly. How easy it would be now, to simply take down the man with a single shot from the flying vehicle once the fool’s back was turned. Loki continued staring emotionlessly as Steve Rogers steadily punched and killed Chitauri after Chitauri with his shield, never faltering a single moment in his endeavours against the endless stream of enemies.

_He doesn’t know when to give up, does he?_

“Hold.” Loki ordered coldly to the Chitauri pilot, who had already aimed the repulsor gun on the vehicle excitedly at the man. The Chitauri gave a hiss of irritation at how its plans had been foiled but Loki ignored it, continuing to watch as Steve battled on relentlessly. Soon, the Captain, with the Black Widow’s help, managed to overcome the last Chitauri soldier at their end.

Loki watched bemusedly as the two shared a conversation and Natasha Romanoff stepped away from Steve Rogers, giving a tiny smirk and averting her gaze upwards as she did so.

_They are up to something..._

Before Loki could figure out what, the Black Widow rushed towards Captain America and leapt onto his shield. The Captain pushed the shield up with all his might and the Widow used the force to propel herself upwards, catching onto the end of a Chitauri vehicle. As Loki watched the woman cling on tight to the rear of the vehicle and struggle to climb up aboard, a jolt of realisation of what she was up to struck.

_The portal!_

“After her.” Loki commanded shortly and the Chitauri made a series of intangible sounds before heeding Loki’s orders and driving the vehicle in pursuit of the Widow. Loki cast one last glance at Captain America, who had started battling a new hoard of Chitauri, before turning away.

He would deal with his once-friend later.

XXX

A low, pained groan escaped from Loki’s lips as he crawled out of the huge crevice the beast had left him in.

It was over. All over. The war was lost. He had lost.  

Loki grimaced as he felt the broken bones in all parts of his body start to knit together and mend themselves again. _Oh, the joys of magic..._ Loki chuckled sardonically to himself. The fallen god managed to hurl the first half of his body up above the smashed-in ground and endless thoughts of what to do next flashed in his head.

 _I_ _need to escape. Now._

Loki’s stomach lurched at the thought. If Thor captured him now, he would bring Loki forcefully back to Asgard- No! Loki can’t return! He cannot, not in this state! A rush of panic and urgency overcame all logical thought in the trickster’s head and he heaved himself out of the crater, mustering all the strength he had left in his body. Loki closed his eyes anxiously, trying to gather enough magic to teleport. However, he realised with despair that he couldn’t. Whatever damage that foul beast had inflicted on his body had drained his magic as well. Loki would not be able to teleport, or escape magically, at least not until his body recovered.

The god cursed under his breath. Before he could think of another way to escape this impossible situation, Loki heard a series of footsteps behind him. His heart sank and he turned around gingerly, finding himself face-to-face with his furious looking brother and the band of angry Avengers.

Hawkeye aimed an arrow at him.

Loki slumped back against the ground and gave a low laugh of resignation, more to himself than anyone else in the room.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have that drink now.” He said dryly. The Avengers were not amused.

Thor growled and grabbed Loki by the arm with unnecessary force, hoisting him up roughly. Loki allowed himself to be manhandled. It was how it should be: The consequences of being the defeated, the one who had fallen. The god wordlessly allowed his brother to cuff him and stared down towards the ground, not meeting the withering glares he received from the other Avengers. Loki had been stripped of his pride and dignity many times before. He had been stripped to the core. There was no part of him that could be hurt or humiliated any further, not anymore. He could take this... All of this...

And then he made the mistake of glancing up once, just once, and meeting Captain America’s gaze. Steven Rogers.

Loki took in the unfeeling, grim look in the Captain’s eyes and felt a part of his heart withering away. It was the part that had always remained intact even after all these years. The part that had fondly clung onto a joyful memory of his childhood, that had once reminded Loki that regardless of how much he was hated, how much he was scorned, there will always be one boy who considered him a friend. It had been a part that was forgotten, but had continued living on.

It shattered now, broken by a simple hard gaze of the one who had once been its guardian. 

XXX

Loki stared blankly into the space before him. He was trapped in another container similar to the first he had been kept in just mere hours ago, left to wallow in his despair while Thor and the others went off to discuss of how to deal with him and the Tesseract.

The trickster already knew what the outcome would be. Thor would never falter from his stand of bringing them back to Asgard.

Loki shifted uncomfortably. The chains around his hands and legs clinked together softly, but yet the god winced at the sound, reminded once more of his predicament. The solid metal muzzle that clamped around his face hurt him, and with the tight hold it had on him, he was not able to even move his jaw underneath, much less cast a spell.

_It was hopeless. All was hopeless._

Loki closed his eyes in resignation, willing the tears already welling up in his eyes to go away. He knew S.H.I.E.L.D had a surveillance camera trained on him, and he did not want to humiliate himself any further. However, there was so much bitterness, so much pent-up frustration in his heart.

The god did not want to return to Asgard. He did not want to return and face the wrath of the All Father, who had claimed to love him like a son but neglected him otherwise. However, he didn’t want to remain on Earth either, not when he would be powerless and mocked and looked down upon by the mortals. Not when he would be scoffed at without anyone who would possibly listen or help; without anyone who could be a friend...

Steven Rogers is not a friend, not any longer.

Loki laughed bitterly behind his muzzle, straining his jaw painfully and taking in the strange muffled sounds of his own laugh. It sounded peculiar.

The god knew for certain now that Steve Rogers had forgotten about him. He should have known from the start, when he first faced off with the Captain that the man no longer remembered him. Steve had made no sign, no mention of any recognition at all of Loki. After the war the man’s gaze had been the same: Stern and emotionless whenever Loki had made eye contact with him. Every time he saw that steely look the man gave him, Loki felt an urge to shout at him, to remind him of their meeting years ago and to berate him for forgetting. How dared he forget, when Loki had not?

But the god knew it was pointless. What good would it do now to bring up past memories? Loki needed no pity. He didn’t need any friends. However, even so, a small childish part of Loki had continued clinging onto the hope that Steve would remember, that the mortal only needed time to trigger his memory of his friend.

It appears it was nothing more than another childish hope.

Loki inhaled deeply and opened his eyes once more.

_Perhaps there was still a way out, perhaps things weren’t-_

And then the god froze abruptly. He blinked once in disbelief, and focused again, confirming what he saw. He stared back blankly at Steven Rogers, who was standing in the doorway of the room Loki was kept in, staring at a god with a curious look of his own as well.

Loki’s heart started beating wildly again. Could Steve have remembered him after all?

Their eyes met and Loki sucked in his breath in anticipation. The silence hung thick in the air, and seconds dragged on, making it seem as though it was ages before Steve blinked, breaking the eye contact he made with Loki. The god watched as Steve shook his head before turning to leave, feeling a familiar sinking feeling of disappointment in his stomach.

After Steven Rogers had left and it was clear he would not return again, another uncontrollable urge to laugh rose from within Loki. He gave in to this urge. He laughed, without a care of how delirious and insane it made him seem. He screamed between fits of laughter; screams of hurt and pain and anger that no one would be able to hear from behind his muzzle. All the pent-up frustration of how his family had forsaken him and how his friend had abandoned him was released in these screams, which in turn disappeared into nothingness just as Loki’s dreams had.

Even when a couple of guards came in and stared at him warily, Loki continued laughing, ignoring how the sides of his jaw strained and ached against the harsh metal of his muzzle. When the laughing fit was over, however, Loki felt an empty, hollow sensation from within him. It was as though the only emotions left within him were anger and insanity and after he had let them all out, there was not a single thing left.

Not even hope.

Loki slumped back in resignation against the clear wall of the container he was kept in, not even caring about whether the cautious guards had lowered the guns they pointed at him.

_It was over. All over._

Even Steven Rogers, the boy who had once so cheerily called Loki a friend, had forgotten him.

XXX

Steve Rogers strode down the hallways of S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters, nodding amiably to the agents who saluted him when he passed.

The war was over now, and the Earth is at peace once more. Steve should be relaxed and happy now, celebrating like the rest of the soldie- _agents_ , he reminded himself- , not puzzled and confused over a Norse god who should be the enemy.

Steve’s brows furrowed at the thought of Loki.

Right from the start, from the very start, when he first saw Loki in Germany, there had been a strange nagging feeling about the god at the back of his mind. Steve had ignored it then, and concentrated in fighting the man to save the lives of the innocent citizens around him. Then on the Quinjet, he had caught Loki sneaking glances at him every now and then. Not at anyone else, only him. It had unnerved Steve a little, but the man had brushed it off to be another one of Loki’s schemes and plots to sow discord among the team. However, now, after the war has ended, after there was nothing left for Loki to plot, Steve realised that it was not so. Loki’s gaze had never failed to land on him at every possible moment now either.

Steve Rogers lost count of the number of times he had ‘accidentally’ made eye contact with the god from the time Loki had been captured till the moment he was transported into S.H.I.E.L.D’s custody. Once was chance, twice was coincidence, but this had moved beyond the point of chance and coincidence.

Even when Thor had been the one who bound him, Clint and Natasha the ones who guarded him and Tony the one who made snarky quips at him, Steve never failed to spot Loki shooting somewhat forlorn and desperate looks in his direction. It was like the god was pleading something; something only Steve could help him with.

Steve frowned.

He had gone to pay the god a visit earlier, and he had observed Loki as his eyes were closed with a pained expression. The god stirred an unexplainable fascination in Steve, a bizarre curiosity that he couldn’t explain. When the god had opened his eyes, he had stared at Steve in surprise, as though he was shocked that the man had actually come and Steve made eye contact with him once more. He gazed into the god’s emerald green eyes, filled with so much emotion that for a moment Steve was lost as well. He took in the pain, sorrow and grief as well as a strange bit of hopefulness he saw in Loki’s gaze and a weird sensation rose in his gut. The fallen god before him, the one who had been so lost and strange and deluded; he seemed familiar to Steve somehow.

After what had seemed like ages, Steve blinked, remembering where he was and turned to leave. Yet, even as he walked further and further away from the room that held the god, that nagging feeling at the back of his head grew stronger and stronger. It was as though the Captain had forgotten something, something important.

Steve stopped abruptly in his tracks. Thoughts and images of Loki were so vivid in his mind now that the man could not think clearly. He shook his head and stared up at the ceiling with a huff.

 _This is enough_ , he told himself firmly. _You are getting yourself crazy and riled up over the enemy._

Steve Rogers pinched the bridge of his nose and cleared his head, pushing away all thoughts of the war and Loki to the back of his mind.

 _It’s over. It’s all over._ Steve told himself sternly and continued walking down the hallways to where he knew his team mates would be waiting for him.

_It’s all over now, and there’s no need to dwell in the past any longer..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it guys, the end of the story.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Obviously I jest. I would probably be killed if I end it here. Let me rephrase, the end of the Avengers' movie part of the story. This chapter was basically tweaking events in the movie to fit it into the plot of my story, so I hope it didn't bore you guys too much here. I did try not to include too much unnecessary stuff, and I also hope no one minded if I left out parts of the movie that weren't relevant to the plot. The chapter was already getting kind of long and draggy.
> 
> By the way, I did an artwork for this story which is also the cover pic now. You guys can take a look at it at this link: http://mschocolat.deviantart.com/art/Kid-Loki-and-Steve-IRY-362283954?q=gallery%3Amschocolat&qo=0
> 
> For the next chapter things will get more interesting (or at least I think so), so stay tuned!
> 
> And to everyone who is mad at Steve for not remembering Loki, don't be too harsh on the poor Captain okay? :/ After all, not everyone can remember a friend they had only met once when they were about 8-10 years old, right?


	3. The Trial

Frigga stared sadly at Loki’s back as he slumped against the transparent wall of his cell, motionless and silent.

It has been twenty three days now. Twenty three days since Loki had returned. Twenty three days that her son had refused to speak or even look at her. Frigga felt a lone tear trickle down the side of her face.

She remembered the day Thor had brought Loki back to Asgard as clearly as though it had just happened just the day before. Bound in chains and disgraced, Loki was jeered at by all those who saw him, scorned for being a traitor of the realm. In their eyes, the people saw him as a failure, the rogue prince of Asgard who had soured their ties with the other realms due to his own selfish ambitions. To them, he was nothing more than a criminal.

However, Frigga saw differently. She saw the empty gaze in Loki’s eyes as he kept his head bowed when he was marched to his cell. She saw the resigned, unnatural silence in the usually sharp-tongued trickster when his muzzle was removed. Despite what the others said, Frigga saw Loki just as a mother would have seen: A now hollow shell of the boy who had once so lovingly held her hand and yearned for her attention; her son.

Frigga wiped the wetness of her cheeks with the edge of her sleeve as she continued gazing at Loki’s still figure. She had attempted to talk to him numerous times since that day he returned, to understand why he did the things he did. However, regardless of all her efforts into coaxing Loki to talk, her son had stubbornly refused to open up or even meet her gaze. It was as though Frigga was speaking to someone who wasn’t even there, someone whose soul was long dead and gone, leaving behind an emotionless shell of a body. It pained Frigga’s heart to see Loki in this state. Regardless of everything Loki had done, he was her child, and she loved him dearly.

_And his trial will be held in two days time._

Frigga’s eyes hardened at the thought. The queen had already felt helpless with her inability to heal her son’s emotional wounds. She was already guilt-ridden at being unable to protect Loki and prevent his down-spiral into darkness and despair. She would be damned if she stood idly by and allowed Odin to execute their son.

All these years, throughout her sons’ childhood, Frigga had never interfered with Odin’s methods of upbringing as she had believed he meant the best for their children. She had stayed behind during Thor and Loki’s fight the year before after her husband had woken and assured her he would bring _both_ their sons back, safe and sound. It ended with her weeping quietly over the loss of her younger son for the past year as she was certain Odin had felt no less grief than she had about Loki’s supposed death. But, things have changed now. Loki has returned and Frigga saw this clearly as what it was: a second chance for her to make amends for her past failures as a mother.

Frigga cast one final doleful glance at Loki before turning and striding up the stairs of the dungeons. She will certainly not remain silent over Loki’s matter now.

XXX

Odin was just finishing a discussion with some of Asgard’s best mages and architects over the repair proceedings of the Bifrost when Frigga stormed unceremoniously into the throne room. He stared in surprise at the stony look on his wife’s face and paused abruptly in his final orders to his men.

“We need to talk.” Frigga said shortly after a moment’s silence and the reason behind the woman’s anger finally dawned on Odin. The All Father gave a sigh and gestured towards the men assembled in the room, all stunned with puzzled looks on their faces.

“Can’t it wait, my wife?” Odin asked in exasperation. “I was just about to finish a-”

“No it can’t.” Frigga interrupted him mid-sentence. Odin took a look at the firm glare in his wife’s eyes and knew that it was pointless to protest any further. Frigga was determined to have her way this time and to argue would be to bring Hel upon them.

“Very well,” the All Father sighed and turned to the group of puzzled men. “The meeting shall be adjourned for today. Be reminded to follow the instructions I’ve given thus far till any further orders. You are dismissed.” The men bowed respectfully towards their king before filing out one by one, their footsteps echoing around the otherwise empty, golden hall. Along the way, they similarly bowed to Frigga as a show of respect but the Queen ignored them, too engrossed in thoughts of her upcoming confrontation with her husband.

“Frigga...” Odin muttered tiredly once the final man had left but Frigga gave her husband no chance to voice his displeasure at her interruption of court matters.

“What do you plan to do with him?” She demanded and Odin gazed back at her with a mix of exasperation and surprise.

“Frigga, we’ve talked about this.” The All Father started but failed to continue as his wife, once again, cut him off mid speech.

“No Odin, we’ve talked about this with you as a ruler and the case as a matter of the court. Now I want to talk about this matter with you as a father and Loki as our son!” Frigga countered furiously and Odin was startled when he spotted the tears starting to brim in his wife’s eyes as she spoke. He had only seen her this agitated once, during that time when he had banished Thor to Midgard. He stood up from his throne and walked slowly down the steps towards her, meaning to comfort her in her sorrow.

“My wife,” he said softly as he placed a hand on Frigga’s shoulder. However, she shrugged off his hand and glared at him in response.

“What do you plan to do with him?” She repeated and Odin could tell from the quiver in her voice that she was struggling to keep herself calm and reasoned. “Odin, Loki had been torn from my grasp once before, I will not have him gone again. Regardless of the crimes he had committed, the wrong he has done, he is my son. _Our_ son...” Frigga whispered the last line and tears started flowing from her eyes. Odin stared grievously at his wife’s despair and Frigga wiped her tears away firmly before continuing. “I will not stand for his execution by your hand or orders!” She finished with grim determination and glowered at Odin, as though daring him to argue back.

Odin stared at Frigga for a moment before giving a frustrated sigh. “Your faith in my love for our son is disheartening.” Frigga blinked in surprise at his reply but quickly composed herself and hardened her face once more. Regardless of what Odin said, she would not back down from her stance of defending Loki. Not this time.

“I, too, grieve for what Loki had become!” Odin retorted. “Regardless of what you may think, I have always treated Loki as my own son, and nothing less.” He continued with a mix of sadness and indignation at Frigga’s accusation. “But, even so, you and I both can’t deny the fact that what he has done had caused damage to Asgard and the other realms! Even though he is our son, even though we love him, we cannot just excuse his crimes! His actions had cost hundreds of innocent lives! The people demand justice, Frigga!” Odin finished furiously, his words repeating around the large, empty hall in a series of intimidating echoes. However, Frigga stood her ground.

“And so you will yield to the people’s cries for his blood?” The queen asked testily, her voice rising steadily to the same volume as Odin’s had been. “No! I forbid that! I will not have Loki harmed any more than he is now at the demands of those who had never understood him, nor tried to understand him.” She paused for a moment and rivalled her husband’s glare with one of her own. “Loki has committed terrible crimes, and he has killed many. His actions cannot go unpunished, I acknowledge that. But all this is not his sole responsibility to bear, Odin!” Frigga’s voice rose with emotion and Odin stared warily at her once more.

“Frigga...” He tried calming his agitated wife once more but failed.

“Who made him into what he is today? Who caused his plunge into insanity and madness?” Frigga’s voice shook with anger as tears streaked down her face. “I’ve told you many times in the past that Loki needed your attention, Odin! I’ve told you that our son required your care, your concern! He yearned for the attention you constantly lavished on Thor!” Frigga broke down at this point and Odin’s hard gaze softened as he watched his wife’s shoulders shake slightly from her sobs. He took a step closer towards her but Frigga ignored his act of comfort, continuing to fix him with a furious glare instead.

“Yet, you never heeded my words.” She continued, her voice trembling slightly with anger. “And me, I was too blind to do anything about it.”

Odin stared at Frigga quietly. Yes, his wife had been right about his neglect of Loki’s feelings; Odin acknowledged that fact. He had overlooked the extent of damage his lack of attention on Loki had done to his son’s psyche. It was an error on his part. But still, all the things he had done were aimed with the best intentions for both his sons. All along, he had loved both his sons equally... It was just that-

“Their talents lay in different areas.” Odin said at last. Frigga met her husband’s gaze with a level look but remained silent. “Their talents were different, and thus I had believed that their way of upbringing should be different. Thor showed prowess on the battle field. He proved himself capable of leadership, and of gaining loyalty from all those who fought with him. I knew it was clear from the start that he was the king Asgard wanted, and needed.” The All Father stated and held his hand up to stop Frigga when she seemed about to rebut him again. “But he was also rambunctious, impulsive, and immature! And in order to groom him into the king I know he can and will be, I needed to stay by his side to rein him in.”

“And what of Loki?” Frigga demanded in disbelief after listening to Odin’s words. “What of him? You had great plans for Thor, but what about Loki? What have you planned for the son you neglected?”

“Loki was exceptionally talented in magic. He was gifted in strategy and diplomacy.” Odin replied impatiently and heaved a heavy sigh. “I left him in the care of the best sorcerers in Asgard so that he would be able to realise his full potential and hone his skills. I had not given him as much attention as I had for Thor, but back then, despite his predisposition for mischief, Loki had shown that he was wise beyond his years. I had thought that he would be able to flourish even with less attention from my part. But I was wrong.” The All Father admitted and gazed at Frigga dolefully. The queen’s eyes softened after seeing the sad look on her husband’s face.

“I had groomed Loki to be a strategist and diplomat, intending him to become the advisor to Thor’s rule. Their traits complement each other, Thor’s courage and leadership, and Loki’s wit and clear-headedness. He would be able to rein Thor in, and give his brother advice in my place, when I am no longer around.” Odin continued and Frigga gave another soft sob at his words. The All Father placed his hands comfortingly on his wife’s shoulders and pulled her in closer towards him, noting the wetness on her tear-stained face and the silent quakes of her shoulders. His heart ached at the sight. “Thor may be the future king, but they were meant to rule Asgard together, as brothers.”

“When you first brought him to me,” Frigga choked, overcome by her emotions. “When I first laid eyes on him as a baby, lost and alone, I had made an oath that I would protect him as long as I lived.” Odin gazed sadly at the tears on his wife’s face and clumsily lifted his hand to wipe them softly off her cheeks. However, Frigga stopped him and held his hand tightly instead. “I know Loki has to answer for his crimes, but I can see that he has suffered enough. Promise me that you will let no further harm come upon our son.” She pleaded with desperation in her eyes and Odin stared at her for a moment before answering.

“Don’t worry, my wife. I know what to do.”

XXX

On the day of the trial, the throne room was flooded with people, anxious and inquisitive about the sentence their wayward prince would be handed. Frigga watched apprehensively as Loki was dragged in roughly by two guards and forced to kneel before the stairway leading to Odin’s throne. It was one of the few times she managed to catch a clear view of the trickster since his return and there was a pang of sadness in her heart when she saw how haggard and worn he had become. With his cheeks sunken and dark circles forming under his usually sharp, bright eyes, the God of Mischief now looked like a gaunt skeleton, a mere shadow of his former self.

Frigga cast a nervous glance towards her husband and saw that he was gazing down at their son with a grim and steely air about him. She knew what that meant: Odin is now performing his role as the just ruler of Asgard. Not her husband, nor Loki’s father. Frigga bit her lip with worry; she could only hope that despite his stern appearance, Odin would still remember their conversation from two days ago.

Beside Frigga, Thor grasped her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, prompting the queen to turn and give her eldest son a grateful smile. Thor returned the smile sadly and both of them turned to gaze at Loki, who was decidedly keeping his head bowed towards the ground.

The whispers among the crowd buzzed louder and louder with the wait as the people grew increasingly restless. Frigga’s heart raced furiously as she listened to the occasional jeers and shouts which called for Loki’s blood. Finally, the All Father thumped the Gungnir on the clear, golden floor and a loud bang echoed around the giant hall, silencing the crowd immediately. A minute of silence passed before Odin spoke again.

“Loki Odinson,-”

Frigga watched as Loki’s head jerked up slightly at the mention of his name, specifically, his family name, and saw the slight curve of the sides of his lips in a bitter scowl. It was the first time she had seen any sign of emotion from him since the day Loki had returned to Asgard, and she did not know if she should feel relieved that part of her son was still there, alive, or dread the upcoming confrontation that was about to happen between her husband and child.

Odin noticed the expression on his son’s face as well, but made no show of it as he carried on with his speech. “- you have been brought here today, to trial on multiple charges, including the usurpation of the throne, attempted murder of your brother Thor,-” Frigga observed the visible hardening of Loki’s eyes as Odin listed off his crimes and felt her heart skip a beat when the god finally lifted his head to glare back defiantly at the All Father. “-destruction of the Bifrost, mass genocide in the realms of Jotunheim and Midgard as well as the provocation of war in these two realms.” Odin finished grimly. “Do you plead guilty?”

There was a dead silence that followed as the crowd waited with bated breaths for the trickster’s answer. Frigga inhaled sharply and felt Thor’s grip on her hand tighten as well. She gave his hand a tiny shake to ease his tension, even though her anxiety was no less than his, and felt comforted herself when he relaxed slightly.

Loki, however, remained silent after the accusation, continuing to give Odin a cold, savage glare. Frigga gazed at the bitterness, hatred and fury burning in her son’s eyes and felt a chill run down her spine.

_Oh Loki, what had become of you?_

Another round of whispering sounded from the crowd after a minute’s wait and even the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, who were standing opposite Frigga and Thor on the steps, started exchanging looks of unease. Odin frowned at the lack of answer from his son and slammed the Gungnir on the ground again. The crowd fell silent once more.

“Do you plead guilty?” The All Father repeated and there was no mistaking the warning tone in his voice this time. Loki levelled Odin’s glare with a steely gaze of his own and finally opened his mouth to speak.

“I plead not guilty.” The younger god replied calmly, voice somewhat husky from its lack of use during the past month but still managing to retain his usual tone of cold sarcasm. An uproar erupted immediately after Loki’s words as members of the crowd screamed for justice for the god’s actions.

“Eh! Ye tried to kill us, ye lying rat!” Volstagg protested indignantly as he stepped out of his place from Fandral’s side to glare at the smirking trickster.

“Silence!” Another loud bang was heard as Odin, once again, slammed the hilt of the Gungnir onto the ground. The crowd hushed instantly and Volstagg gave an embarrassed cough.

“Well, you could ask Thor...” The huge man mumbled before shuffling awkwardly back to his place. Fandral glared at his bumbling friend and gave him a hard nudge at his side.

“The accused has the right to defend himself during trial.” Odin said grimly as he swept across the hall with a stern gaze. “There should be no more interruptions until the court has adjourned.” Frigga shot her husband an appreciative glance he did not catch and turned her attention back to Loki, pausing to give Thor an assuring smile as she did so. Volstagg mumbled something along the lines of “Fiddlesticks,” under his breath and shut up promptly when Fandral whispered something warningly to him.

“There have been numerous accounts from witnesses on the charges of the crimes you committed against Asgard and Jotunheim, and some of these witnesses are present today. Heimdall, All-Seer, testifies against your crimes in Midgard, including the war you have waged upon the realm and the mass genocide you have committed against hundreds of innocents.” Odin continued stonily as he focused his attention on Loki once more. “What do you have to say in your defence against these accusations?”

Loki’s lips curled into a sneer as he listened to Odin’s words. “There is no defence on my part regarding my actions in Midgard.” He stated coldly. “I am, as you might say, guilty as charged with respects to these accusations.” There were a few cries of triumph from the crowd at Loki’s reply, but these were immediately hushed when the All Father’s forbidding gaze swept across the masses.

Loki gave a bitter chuckle before continuing. “However, I would like to mention that all I had done was no different from the earlier rulers in their bid for power. Their conquering of the weaker realms was justified on the terms that it was for the lesser beings’ own protection, and to bring progress and order to these realms. I merely did the same. The only difference lies in that I had failed where they had succeeded, and if the people can’t see eye to eye with my actions, then so be it.” The trickster gave a mock shrug as he said so.

There was a flurry of murmurs after the trickster presented his argument, no doubt debating about whether his reasons for the war waged against Midgard were truly justified. There were some who were swayed, starting to question after consideration of the actions of past warlocks if their second prince had indeed committed as grievous a crime as they had initially thought. Others stuck firm to their beliefs: that the lie smith was no more than a cold blooded killer attempting to escape his punishment.

Frigga felt Thor tensing up next to her again, apparently incensed by the uncaring way his brother had brushed off the charges made against him regarding the murders of hundreds of mortals. She too, listened to Loki’s words with a heavy heart, wondering how that familiar voice which had once been so reasoned and warm grew this cold and depraved.

_My child..._

“I would, however, wish to present counter-charges against those who accused me of supposed crimes in Asgard.”

A series of hushed whispers broke out among the crowd once more after hearing the trickster’s words. Frigga and Thor exchanged similar looks of worry with this sudden change in events. The queen had no idea what her younger son was up to, but she desperately hoped that he would not make things worse for himself. Odin may have promised her that he would give Loki a just hearing, but even the All Father could not save their son if the masses were enraged.

“Counter-charges?” The All Father repeated incredulously as he stared at Loki. “And who would you be making these counter-charges against?”

Loki flashed a wicked smirk before continuing. “My first counter-charge is against the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, on multiple counts of high treason against me and Asgard during my reign as King.”

A large burst of outrage erupted from the crowd at his words and Frigga’s heart thumped violently against her chest as she gazed in horror at the level of displeasure and anger Loki had aroused amongst the citizens. Volstagg, and even Fandral this time, added to the commotion as they started shouting furiously at the grinning trickster, who only seemed pleased that he had incensed them so. Sif and Hogun remained quiet, but it was obvious from the murderous looks on their faces that they were itching to tear the wayward prince to shreds at the very first opportunity they got.

This time, Odin had to slam the Gungnir on the ground six times before the crowd calmed down.

“ORDER!” The All Father finally snarled in exasperation as he glared around the hall. He then turned to Loki with a scowl. “And on what grounds do you make these accusations?!”

“The Warriors Three and Lady Sif plotted against me during my rule.” Loki replied simply, but his eyes gleamed with a cold, cruel malice that did not go unnoticed by all those present before him. Frigga noted how her son’s eyes swept bitterly across all those who stood before him, even Thor, but not to her. Despite her attempts to catch Loki’s gaze numerous times thus far in the trial, the trickster had always managed to evade her gaze somehow.

“They disregarded my orders blatantly,” Loki continued. “Smuggled Thor back to Asgard despite his banishment, plotted with Thor to overthrow my rule-”

 “Ye are a bloody liar and murderer!” Volstagg bellowed angrily, cutting Loki off mid speech. The trickster clicked his tongue in displeasure at the interruption but otherwise made no show of any emotion at Volstagg’s words. In fact, he seemed more bored than anything, choosing to ignore the larger warrior in favour of arranging the shackles on his wrists to make himself more comfortable. “Why ye little-” Volstagg growled at the sight of his foe’s flippancy and seemed about to storm down the steps to punch the god in the face when Fandral stopped his friend hastily. The swashbuckler gave a tiny cough and jerked his head warningly in the All Father’s direction before giving Volstagg an assuring slap on the back and walking forward to face Odin instead.

“If I may, All Father,” Fandral bowed respectfully. “I would ask for permission to counter Loki’s accusations.” When Odin nodded, the warrior turned and shot Loki a steely glare.

“You accuse us of treason,” Fandral retorted, “And yet, you were the one who conspired with the Jotuns to bring harm upon Asgard. We acted against you to protect our realm.”

A cold, sharp laugh escaped Loki’s lips as he listened to the warrior’s words.

“Me? Conspire with the Jotuns?” Loki asked at last, fixing Fandral with a gaze of bitter mirth. “And what evidence do you have to prove that? Under my rule, _my intricate planning_ , the King of Jotunheim lays dead and their powers are diminished to a mere fraction of what it originally was. Their resources destroyed, and their morales shattered. Despite the initial threat the crown prince, Thor-” Loki shot Thor a look of disdain at this point. “-had stirred from the souring of our ties with an otherwise mutual realm, Asgard is now safe from the hostilities of the Frost Giants,  who currently have neither the power nor heart to attack us. I’d say I did Asgard a favour.” The trickster finished with a sly smirk tugging at the side of his lips.

“Heimdall reported that you travelled to Jotunheim to meet up with their ruler!” Fandral burst out in frustration at the sight of the smug look on Loki’s face. “Our guardian has also witnessed you bringing the Frost Giants into Asgard. Blatantly!” The warrior added and a few jeers sounded from the crowd. “How would you explain these actions then, if you had not been conniving with our enemy against Asgard?” Fandral finished triumphantly to the cheers of his supporters. However, despite the seemingly grim circumstances, Frigga could have sworn she saw Loki giving a subtle roll of his eyes. The queen then started to feel a little irked herself that her son seemed to be less concerned about his own predicament than she was.

“Does the All Father have to answer to you regarding his plans for Asgard?” Loki asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“Eh?” Fandral gaped at him wordlessly for a moment, stunned by the question. “Of course not.”

“Exactly.” Loki grinned at the swashbuckler’s reply and silence filled the air of the throne room. Frigga shot a nervous glance at Odin and saw that the All Father’s eyes were narrowed as he frowned at the trickster kneeling before him. “As King of Asgard, the All Father has no reason to answer to you regarding his plans for the realm. It is a show of your faith and _loyalty_ to Asgard, that you obey her King and his orders for the good of the realm.” Loki countered with a smirk. “My plans had not been explained to you nor your friends in detail; that I admit. However, this does not mean that they were made against Asgard and her people.”

“But you-” Fandral started again indignantly, however Loki gave him no chance for a rebuttal.

“The best plans are often detailed, and unpredictable to most,” The trickster interrupted coolly. “In order to fool the enemy and lure them into our traps, there are times when we must even hide our aims from those who claim to be allies but would likely create a mess of these plans. Of course, I do not expect you or your friends to understand this simple theory.” Loki added with a condescending smirk and Fandral clenched his fists in anger at the snide remark. Frigga watched as Loki continually angered the Warriors Three and Sif with every additional word he spoke and bit her lip as well in worry.

Loki then paused for a moment before continuing. “I believe that even though some people present may not agree with my methods, no one can deny the fact that my plan bore good results for Asgard in the end at the expense of the Jotuns. As I have said earlier, their king is dead and their might is vanquished. However, Asgard still remains strong and prosperous today without any threat of war. Who is to say that these were not the merits which had resulted from my actions?”

Mutters of agreement and dissent started sounding from the crowd assembled as the trickster’s arguments were discussed and pondered. Fandral shot an anxious look towards his friends and Volstagg frowned before stepping up again.

“Our guardian Heimdall-” The huge warrior protested but was cut off by Loki, once again.

“Heimdall is as guilty of treason as you and your friends!” Loki snarled, his green eyes flashing with rage. “He learnt of your plans for rebellion, and yet encouraged it instead of stopping it. He blatantly disregarded my orders and attacked me later when I rightfully dismissed him of his duties for doing so. Heimdall broke his oath of remaining loyal to Asgard and her kings, and had instead acted contrary to what he had sworn.”

“You dare accuse our guardian?” Volstagg blurted out in disbelief. “After what you have done? After you froze him with the Casket-?”

“I consider that an act of mercy on my part.” Loki sneered in reply. “For his acts of treachery, Heimdall should have been executed, just like all those guilty of treason would.” The god’s eyes gleamed as he swept his gaze accusingly across the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. Volstagg swallowed a nervous gulp, but otherwise still kept his glare trained on the trickster.

“Furthermore, I wouldn’t take the word of Heimdall as evidence for your accusations, if I were you.” Loki continued with a sly smile. “After all, I had concealed myself with magic during my trip to Jotunheim, and despite the guardian’s gifts of All-sight, he would be unable to see or hear me. His word that I was plotting against Asgard during that time can only be treated as a mere speculation, and nothing more than that.”

Fandral bristled angrily at the argument. “If you had nothing to hide, why would you need to-”

“Enough!”

All attention turned from Loki and Fandral to the All Father, who was clearly displeased with the direction the arguments were heading in. Fandral bowed his head, muttering a soft apology before grabbing Volstagg by the arm and dragging him back to their places by Hogun and Sif hurriedly. Odin’s disapproving gaze then turned onto Loki, who glared back with a spiteful defiance.

“Despite the blatant distortion and manipulation of the facts presented in your arguments against the case-” Loki scowled at this point to Odin’s words. “-I will admit that there is indeed a lack of concrete evidence to deem you guilty of treachery towards Asgard.” Cries of protest rang from the crowd at this announcement. The All Father called for silence with another slam of the Gungnir before continuing to address Loki. “Therefore, I shall give you the benefit of doubt regarding your intentions towards Asgard during your rule.”

“However-” The room remained eerily quiet as everyone waited with bated breaths for the All Father’s next sentence. “-your attempted murder of your brother, Thor, has been testified by the accounts of numerous witnesses. The sending of the Destroyer to Midgard on your orders, thus causing devastating damage to a human town and the near death of Thor, further serves as evidence to your crime.” Odin continued as he gazed down grimly at Loki. “What defence on your part, do you have to say to this charge?”

Frigga watched as the side of Loki’s lips curled into a cunning grin and felt a sickening dread pitting in her stomach at her son’s impending answer. The queen knew Loki well, and she could be sure what his answer would be next...

“Why, I was simply acting on my predecessor’s orders, All Father.” Loki replied smoothly and as expected, caused another explosive outburst.

“BLASPHEMY!” Volstagg roared from the side, his gruff voice drowned out by the enraged cries and yells from the crowd. Loki winced a little at the volume but otherwise made no show of anxiety or fear at the outrage he caused. In fact, the trickster seemed more amused than anything.

Frigga felt a sudden giddy spell overcome her after listening to what Loki had said and stumbled back a step before Thor caught her anxiously. “Mother...” Frigga forced a smile at her son’s worried gaze and steadied herself before massaging her temples and closing her eyes in a strenuous effort to remain focused on the court.

Odin noticed the distress of his wife as well, and turned back to Loki with a considerably harsher glare. “My orders?” The crowd hushed at the sound of cold fury in the All Father’s voice, and many among the masses started whispering about how the lie smith has dug his own grave at long last. However, Loki did not seem intimidated by the man’s anger at all.

“Indeed.” He replied calmly. “When the All Father banished Thor to Midgard, you have stated clearly that he was not to return to Asgard until he proved himself worthy-”

“But I did not call for his death!” Odin snapped and Loki shot him a cold look for the interruption. “I banished Thor to Midgard, powerless, so that he may repent and learn the importance of humility. Once he had proved himself, Thor would be able to retrieve the Mjolnir and return. You had no grounds to set the Destroyer on him.” The All Father ended gruffly.

Loki clicked his tongue impatiently. “Not in the initial circumstances.” He admitted. “However, as stated in my earlier counter-charges, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif had plotted later to retrieve Thor from Midgard and end his banishment without my expressed command. As the king of Asgard during that time, it was my solemn duty to uphold the past orders of my predecessor, and thus I had no choice but to send the Destroyer to prevent Thor’s return.” Loki stated matter-of-factly.  “As regrettable as that might seem.”  The trickster then added as an afterthought and gave a taunting nod in Thor’s direction. 

Frigga heard the loud crack of knuckles as Thor tensed up next to her and hurriedly reached out to calm her eldest down but to no avail. Thor stormed down a few steps of the stairs before she could stop him to confront his brother and there was nothing more Frigga could do but watch in despair while they argued.

“And so you deemed it right to send the Destroyer after me? After our friends?!” Thor asked heatedly. “Even after all we had been through together? The ties and friendships we have forged?”

“When you are King,” Loki snapped in reply to his brother’s questions. “You will learn that you have to put the good of Asgard above all personal emotions and ties!”

Thor gave a scornful laugh. “Oh, as talented with your words as always, Brother.” Loki’s face contorted into an ugly scowl at his brother’s jab. “And what of your actions when I had finally returned to Asgard? What about your planned annihilation of the entire Jotun race?”

“As I have stated, my plans were for the good of-”

“But it doesn’t make it right!” Thor retorted. “Regardless of whatever goodwill you have for Asgard’s future, the extermination of an entire race can never be justified, Loki!”

Loki laughed mirthlessly. “Says the one who murdered hundreds of Jotuns and created the strife between us and their race in the first place.” The trickster took in the stunned look on his brother’s face smugly before continuing. “What I had attempted to do was to repair the damage that you had caused in the past. It was a necessary measure to eliminate the threat of Jotunheim. Your return, _without permission, I might add_ , and subsequent acts to discredit me and thwart my plans not only showed your impulsiveness and lack of foresight, but also serves as further evidence of the Warriors’ Three and Lady Sif’s attempts at treason by garnering your support to overthrow me, the then rightful king of Asgard.”

“So you’re saying that your actions had inflicted no costs on Asgard? The loss of the Bifrost? The destruction of the Rainbow Bridge?” Thor glared at Loki in disbelief, thoroughly frustrated by how his brother had cleverly managed to evade and twist all accusations made into his favour.

Loki lifted a brow cynically at Thor’s words. “Pardon me, but I do believe that the destruction of the Bifrost is on _you_ , Thor. I could hardly do anything about it with the Mjolnir on my chest.”

A quiet murmuring sounded around the throne room at this point of time as many anxious words and glances were exchanged. The lie smith was presenting a solid case for his actions now and indignant as they might be, the people were worried he may be let off scot-free. Volstagg fidgeted uncomfortably next to Fandral.

“Ol’ Silver tongue’s trying to get us all killed, and doing a damned good job of it too.” The larger warrior mumbled grumpily to his friend, who gave a snort of annoyance.

“Well, I wasn’t the one who said his tongue’s turned to lead.” The swashbuckler hissed back irritably.

Finally, Sif stepped up. “You are making these arguments on the assumption that you are the rightful king in the first place.” The female warrior snapped irritably to Loki, who returned her hostility with a stony glare. “But you usurped the throne! You took advantage of the fact that the All Father and Thor were not around to seize power as the ruler of Asgard. It is not treason then if we resist your rule when it’s unrightfully obtained!”

“And I guess this will bring me to the final defence I wish to make today.” Loki laughed scornfully. “You all accuse me of usurpation of the throne, but these are all false, groundless allegations!” The trickster’s eyes flashed once more with fury as he gave Sif a withering glare before staring past her towards Odin. “I was the rightful king, crowned by the queen of Asgard herself.”

A series of shocked whispers spread amongst the gathered crowd at the revelation.

“You’re kidding me?” Fandral gasped as Volstagg stood stunned beside him, jaw hanging uselessly. Sif’s eyes widened in shock at Loki’s answer and her gaze, along with many others in the room, turned towards Frigga. Frigga noticed the onslaught of attention she received and sighed, nodding softly to signal that all Loki had said was indeed true.

Loki smirked. “Thus,” he continued, “if the decisions and policies I have made during my time of rule were to be condemned, then it would only be fair that the one who had given me the power to make these decisions is judged as well.”

_“What? He’s accusing the queen!”_

_“Preposterous!”_

“How dare you drag Mother into all this, Loki!” Thor snarled in anger, his voice booming above the enraged shouts from the crowd. Frigga stood frozen at her place on the steps, shocked by what her son had said.

_Loki..._

Her son, the son she had always loved as dearly as though he was her very own flesh and blood; he had now turned against her. Frigga stared in disbelief at Loki for a moment. It all seemed so surreal somehow, like the child she had used to hold and love was no more than a stranger now. However, as she continued staring at her wayward son, it was not long before she spotted something strange.

Despite his outwardly calm composure, Loki’s gaze flitted about restlessly as he listened to the uproar. It was a brief, fleeting movement, probably not noticeable to most, but Frigga saw it all the same. Then, as though by pure instinct, her eyes followed down the length of his body to where his hands were, and saw just as she had expected: The trickster had clenched his fists so tightly that they were now chalk white.

It was just like all those times when he had suffered from nightmares in his childhood and woke up drenched in cold sweat. And that time when he had watched the healers treat Thor’s wounds after his brother was impaled with a sword on the battlefield. That time when he observed Odin in the Odin-sleep, unsure if his father would ever wake again.

_It had always been his little habit._

Frigga understood now. All those heartless words Loki had said, all the cruel allegations he had made, they were nothing more than his desperate attempts to clutch at the last few strands of hope; his final struggle at a chance to live. Although he may be a devious liar and murderer in the eyes of others, Frigga still saw Loki as her son. And now, her son was frightened, scared and alone.

“Indeed,” Frigga said at last, stepping out to address the crowd, who hushed immediately to listen to what their queen had to say. “Loki Odinson speaks the truth. I had been the one to bestow upon him power as the ruler of Asgard. If his actions as ruler during that time were to be judged and condemned, then I would willingly submit myself for judgement as well.” The entire hall grew so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

“Mother...” Thor gaped at Frigga, flabbergasted by her words.

“My queen...”

As Frigga continued standing before the stunned masses, head held high and regal, she heard Odin’s disbelieving voice from behind her. However, she arranged her facial features to a determined expression. As the Queen of Asgard, Frigga knew that her actions were impulsive and irrational, however, as Loki’s mother, she _chose_ to be irrational.

After a moment of gazing solemnly at the crowd, Frigga finally lowered her eyes down to Loki and was surprised when she found him staring in shock at her as well. For the first time since Loki returned, their eyes met. Frigga gazed sadly into the once bright, shining eyes of her son and felt a wrenching pain in her heart when she saw how lost and dark they were now. However, for just a second, a mere second before Loki blinked and averted his gaze from her again, Frigga spotted a tiny tinge of emotion in his eyes that could only be that of guilt and sorrow.

The queen could not help but give a tiny relieved smile at the observation.

Her son was not completely lost yet.

XXX

 “-if the decisions and policies I have made during my time of rule were to be condemned, then it would only be fair that the one who had given me the power to make these decisions is judged as well.” Loki finished his sentence coolly and listened as a burst of outrage erupted at his words. He grinned.

Yes, he had been expecting that.

“How dare you drag Mother into all this, Loki!” He heard Thor bellow along with the angry shouts and cries from the crowd. Loki blocked them all out. After all, it was all expected.

Loki had known that his arguments would not be well-received, nor would any of those he had made accusations against be actually prosecuted. The All Father would never allow it; Loki knew that. However, it was his only chance, the only struggle he can make against his impending doom. It was the final flail of one who might as well be dead a long time ago. If Loki were to be prosecuted, if he were to be sentenced to execution for his crimes, then the trickster would jolly well drag all those who have landed him in this plight along with him. Loki refused to go quietly, or alone.

However, a tiny bit of unease tugged at his heart despite his convictions. Out of all the people present in the hall, the one Loki would wish to harm the least of all was Frigga herself. Yet, he knew his actions now would hurt her gravely.

Ever since Loki had returned to Asgard and was confined to his cell, the only other person who had visited him more than Thor had was Frigga. However, Loki had ignored her, just as he had for Thor. He couldn’t afford to allow any bit of emotion enter his heart again. To feel once more would be to allow himself to be hurt once more. Odin was proof of that. Thor was proof of that. Steven Rogers was proof of that. Nonetheless, he could not stop the tiny voice at the back of his head that screamed out for comfort whenever Frigga was around, pleading with him to talk to her. Loki knew, that if there was anyone at all in this gigantic room who actually cared for him, that person would be Frigga, and no one else.

But now, she would feel upset and betrayed by him as well.

_She should have known better. Mother – No – She was never my mother..._

“Indeed, Loki Odinson speaks the truth. I had been the one to bestow upon him power as the ruler of Asgard.”

_The queen, she should have known that the hopes she had in me were for naught._

“If his actions as ruler during that time were to be judged and condemned-”

_She should never have trusted me in the first place._

“- then I would willingly submit myself for judgement as well.”

A hushed silence fell upon the room after Frigga’s speech and Loki furrowed his brows in confusion at the sudden change in atmosphere before the impact of the queen’s words sank in. His eyes widened in shock as he gazed up to stare at Frigga, now standing poised and calm before the crowd.

_Wha- What?_

Impossible. Loki felt a sudden rush of emotion flood into his heart once more and clenched his fists tightly. No, he wasn’t supposed to feel like this. He wasn’t supposed to be this weak again!

_But... why? Mother... why did she do this?_

When Frigga gazed down towards him at last, their eyes met and Loki was once again reminded of why he had refused to gaze at her during the past few weeks in the first place. The sadness in her eyes, it hurt... so much.

_I’m sorry._

Loki felt the ache in his chest spreading wider and wider, threatening to tear him up from within and quickly averted his gaze, refusing to look in Frigga’s direction any longer. He hated this; how weak he felt. After all those weeks of mentally preparing himself for all possible threats that may tear down his defences and composure during the actual trial itself, he still failed to predict this one. He had been prepared for Odin’s disapproval, he had devised of ways to counter Thor’s anger, but he had not foreseen that Frigga would risk her own life in a bid to save him.

Loki had not planned to endanger her in any way. True, he had used her in his defence of his actions during his period of rule in Asgard, but that was only because he knew the All Father would never allow anything to happen to his wife. Frigga had been the best chance Loki had for escaping the heavier death sentence, but now that she had placed herself on the line for him, all this seemed wrong somehow.

“Enough!” The All Father commanded at last, slamming the Gungnir heavily on the ground. The resulting bang silenced the crowd and shocked Loki, who had been so lost in his thoughts, that he gave an involuntary jolt. He scowled at this display of weakness and composed himself once more, lifting his head to look at Odin and determinedly not allowing his gaze to flit in Frigga’s direction.

“The accused has had sufficient time to present his defences.” The All Father said and shot a disapproving gaze at Loki, who felt his heart skip a beat but nonetheless glared stonily back. “And I shall now pass the sentences.”

“The Queen,” Odin started, “passed the title of Kingship to Loki Odinson during the period of Thor’s banishment and my absence. Although this was an act not announced to the public and thus resulted in future misunderstandings, she had only done what was expected, and rational at that point of time. With me and Thor absent, Loki, as my second son, was next in line to the throne.” The All Father’s gaze then hardened. “The actions of the successor to the throne, however, cannot and _will not_ be blamed on the one who bestowed upon him that power, as the choices made was his alone!”

Loki watched as Frigga spun around anxiously to say something to her husband but the All Father merely raised his hand to stop her. “Therefore, there will be no judgement passed on the queen.”

A few cheers of jubilation came from the crowd and even though Loki had been sure that this would have been the outcome, he could not help but feel a brief sense of relief.

“The Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and Heimdall,” The All Father continued, and the room fell silent once more, “had indeed plotted against the sovereignty of Loki Odinson during his time as the rightful ruler of Asgard. By the definitions of our laws, they have committed the crime of treason.” Volstagg’s jaw dropped as he gaped at the All Father and Fandral, Hogun and Sif’s faces turned pale at his words. Loki, however, gave a tiny smirk.

“Father-” Thor started in protest.

“But-” Odin raised his voice as he continued, ignoring his anxious son. “-given the circumstances they were in, the doubts that had risen from the sudden transfer of the throne, and the fact that their intentions were aimed for the good of Asgard, I, Odin All Father, hereby pardon their past actions.”

A second burst of triumphant cheers rang from the crowd and Volstagg punched the air happily (“Aw yeah!”) before giving an embarrassed Fandral a tight hug. Sif exchanged a pleased look with Thor with at the announcement and even Hogun appeared to be smiling somewhat slightly. Loki did not share their happy sentiments though.

_Why am I not surprised?_

“And now, finally, we will come to the judgement of my second son, Loki Odinson.”

Loki smiled bitterly. _Odinson._ He had no idea why Odin had insisted on continuing to use that name when it was obvious to all that Loki was no longer a prince of Asgard, but a disgrace to the royal name.

 _Probably refuses to admit to the people out of pride that he had adopted a Jotun_ , Loki thought spitefully as he continued giving Odin a callous glare. _Just as well. He would be able to use this opportunity to get rid of me once and for all._

The All Father gave his son a hard stare. “As I’ve stated earlier, due to the lack of concrete evidence for the charges presented against you for your actions in Asgard, and the fact that as king, you had full legislation of the laws and policies to be set in Asgard,-” Odin inhaled sharply at this point, and it was clear to all that despite his words, the All Father still disapproved of his second son’s actions. “- the benefit of doubt shall be given that you had the best interests of Asgard at heart.” Frigga heaved a sigh of relief which Loki managed to catch from the corner of his eye and another surge of gratitude rose from within his heart towards her.

“However,” Odin continued and Loki gave a sardonic smile. _Of course, it wouldn’t be this easy._ “Your assault on Midgard was committed during the time of your exile from Asgard. The mass genocide you led against the mortals with a foreign army was an act of atrocity, and had cost the lives of hundreds. This crime cannot go unpunished.” Frigga tensed up after hearing her husband’s words and Thor took his place beside her once more, grasping her hand tightly in his for assurance.

“Loki Odinson,” The All Father continued grimly. “In view of your crimes: the war you have waged against Midgard, the hundreds of lives you have killed, and the souring of Asgard’s ties with an otherwise friendly realm-” Loki scoffed quietly at this. “-I, Odin All Father, hereby sentence you-” _To execution? Life imprisonment?_ “-to banishment in Midgard, the very realm which you have waged war upon.”

Loki’s eyes widened in shock.

_Wha- What? Banishment?_

Frigga gave a silent sob of joy at the merciful sentence and buried her face in Thor’s chest. The Thunder god patted his mother comfortingly on her back as he too, gave a relieved smile. Loki, however, was left in a state of stupor as he continued staring blankly at the All Father. Behind him, some members of the crowd started to voice their protests.

_“The sentence’s too light!”_

_“He is a murderer!”_

_“Murderer!”_

“Silence!” Odin slammed the hilt of the Gungnir heavily on the ground and swept a stern glare across the people assembled once more. “A year ago,” The All Father started after the hall fell silent. “A group of Asgardian warriors were led into the frozen ice lands of Jotunheim. They too, killed hundreds of Jotuns and breached the treaty of peace between the two realms, bringing Asgard onto the brink of war.” Thor shuffled his feet uneasily as he listened to his father’s words. “At that time, I had handed a similar sentence to their leader, my firstborn, Thor Odinson: Banishment to the realm of Midgard. It was only when he could prove himself worthy and repent his actions, would he be allowed to return.”

Odin paused for a moment, casting his glance towards Loki before continuing. “And now, my second son has done the same. He has led an army to Midgard, killed hundreds of Midgardians and breached our ties with the mortal realm. His sins are similar to those which had been committed by his brother... although perhaps more severe in magnitude.” The All Father added after some consideration. “It is with this reason, that I sentence my second son to a similar punishment to that of my first: banishment to Midgard till he may prove himself worthy to return to Asgard once more, as her prince.” Odin’s gaze met Loki’s as he finished his sentence and the trickster could not hide the disbelief and confusion he felt from his father’s words.

_...her prince._

“You will be sent to Midgard,” Odin continued, this time without further protests from the people. As it turned out, no one dared to continue challenging the All Father’s judgement. “And while you are there, you will make amends to her people and repair the damage that you have caused.”

“I volunteer to go with him.”

Odin’s gaze turned in surprise towards Thor as his eldest son spoke up suddenly. The Warriors Three and Sif exchanged stunned glances at their friend’s words and another commotion started as people started passing shocked whispers.

“Thor!” Frigga’s brows furrowed with worry as she stared at the Thunder god. However, Thor gave her hand a comforting pat and smiled before striding down the steps next to Loki and turning to face his father.

“I would accompany my brother during his time of banishment.” Thor repeated with confidence. Beside him, Loki choked, incredulous at what Thor had said.

“What are you doing, you idiot?!” The trickster hissed furiously but his brother paid no heed to Loki’s frustration.

“Loki had waged a war on Midgard in the past, and I am certain that the mortals would be no less hostile towards him if he were to be banished to their realm. Therefore, I volunteer to leave for Midgard with him, to guard him, ensure his cooperation with the mortals, as well as lend assistance in his endeavours should he require it.”

Loki scoffed bitterly at Thor’s words. Trust the golden boy to show off his goodness and benevolence even at the time of his brother’s sentencing. No wonder he was the crown prince! The trickster gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“Thor,” Odin began quietly as he gazed at his son. “Loki’s banishment will not be as short as yours had been. If you were to leave with him, it may take months, or even years, before both of you will be able to return.”

Loki gave a cynical snort. _Of course the buffoon hadn’t considered the implications of his suggestion. He would never agree to it now that he knew._

 “Are you certain of your decision?” The All Father asked and Thor stared at his father grimly for a second before answering.

“Yes, I am.”

_What?_

Beside him, Loki’s jaw fell open as he stared at his brother in disbelief. Odin gave a sigh before nodding. Sometimes he wonders where both his sons got their stubborn traits from. Frigga flashed a sad smile at Thor, who returned it with a grin of his own.

“Well it’s his choice!” Fandral shrugged when Volstagg and Sif glanced anxiously towards him. Hogun, however, simply maintained his usual emotionless expression.

“Very well,” Odin said at last. “Loki Odinson, you will be sent to Midgard as punishment for your crimes along with your brother, who will act as your custodian. You are to obey his words-” Loki scowled, “-and make amends toward the realm which you have transgressed. Now, I announce the end of the trial. Court adjourned.” Odin declared with a final slam of his Gungnir.

Murmurs and footsteps echoed around the giant throne room as the people gathered started leaving in droves. Finally, only Odin, Frigga, Thor, Loki, the Warriors Three and Sif were left.

“Both of you, meet me in the spell room for your transportation to Midgard.” Odin said to his sons once the hall was empty.

“Yes Father,” Thor answered and Loki gave a scoff.

_Suck-up._

Odin stood from the throne steadily and strode briskly out of the throne room, his cloak bellowing behind him. He placed his hand on Frigga’s shoulder along the way, giving it an assuring pat before leaving and his wife mouthed a silent word of gratitude to the All Father. Before the queen turned to leave as well, she flashed a smile at both her sons and Thor gave her a nod, both as a sign of respect and as well as assurance that he would take care of Loki in her place. Loki made no sign of recognition at Frigga’s gesture, but allowed his gaze to follow his mother’s back as she exited the hall.

The Warriors’ Three and Sif bowed to Thor before leaving and shot glares of disdain towards Loki as they left. Loki scoffed back.

When they were finally alone, Thor reached for his brother’s arm in an attempt to help him up to his feet. “Come on Brother, Father is waiting for us.”

“I don’t need your help!” Loki snapped irritably as he swatted Thor’s hand aside and struggled to stand by himself. However, he had apparently underestimated the amount of time he had spent kneeling and his legs buckled under him.

“Loki!” Thor grabbed him by the shoulders anxiously but the trickster shrugged his hands off with unwarranted force. He then shot his brother a glare before steadying himself and turning away. Thor gave an indignant cough at his brother’s nastiness before leading the way out of the throne room. Loki hesitated for a moment before following.

As Loki followed his brother along the grand passageways of the palace to where Odin was waiting for them, he pondered about his sentence once more.

Banishment.

Surprisingly, that was a lighter sentence than he had expected to receive.

Loki may have appeared extremely composed during the court, but that had been due to the numerous days of mental preparation he had done for the trials that would follow. Deep down, the trickster was still fearful of what would lay ahead for him in retribution to his crimes. However, since the God of Mischief had long learnt and mastered the skill of concealing his emotions, he managed to keep a calm exterior during the trial itself.

Loki had poised himself to anticipate for all sorts of terrible punishments Odin might inflict on him, from execution, life imprisonment, to even mutilation, but he had not considered banishment. It had seemed so trivial a punishment for the acts he had committed that Loki did not even spare it any thought. He had to now.

As he walked, Loki’s mind wandered towards the possible treatment he would likely receive on Midgard. The stony-faced Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would want his head for the things he had done, no doubt. That man, Clint Barton; wasn’t he furious and vengeful against Loki for having claimed his mind? He would be another one to look out for. Loki’s brows furrowed at the thought. That savage green monster, that wench of an assassin and the arrogant, repulsive specimen of a man, Tony Stark. They would not let him off easily, that’s for sure. And then there’s...

_Steven Rogers._

Loki froze in his tracks at the thought of the super soldier and felt an empty dread pitting in his stomach again. He had forgotten about the man completely. If Loki returned to Midgard, there might be times when he would encounter Steve again. No, there will _sure_ to be times when he will see him again... That friend he once had who didn’t even remember him now.

The god felt a sudden, strong, uncontrollable surge of emotion in his heart; one that hurt with a vengeance for its continual suppression by its owner for the past few weeks. A hollow, empty feeling grew in his chest, turning his insides cold and making him nauseous and sick to the stomach. Loki doubled over, coughing as he choked from the bitterness of the bile that rose in his throat.

Thor stopped abruptly when he realised what happened and hurried back to his brother’s side. “Loki, are you alright?” He asked anxiously as he helped his brother upright again, supporting Loki’s weight with his arms.

Loki shook his head and swallowed. “I’m fine.” He muttered stubbornly before giving Thor a feeble push. Ignoring the concerned look his brother gave him, Loki steadied himself and strode off again, reluctant to show any further signs of weakness. However, with every additional step he took, the god felt his heart sinking deeper and deeper with dread at the events that were to come. His impending confrontation with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, the hostility and anger he was sure to face for his crimes. And his meeting with Steven Rogers once more.

Loki sighed.

_Perhaps execution would have been a better option after all..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had been a really, really, really trying one for me to write. And I don't even know why :/ I believe this must be due to the alternate view points from Frigga and Odin. I haven't seen a lot of Frigga in the movies, but from the deleted scenes I can deduce that she loves both her sons dearly. So I tried to portray her as a strong and protective mother who loves her family but would not be scared to stand up against any threat against them. I hope I did fine.
> 
> The content in this chapter was only half of what I had planned for chapter 3. It sucks, I know. But during the court scene, Loki sort of took over in attempts to prove his intelligence and wit and how angsty he is and I could do nothing about it. :( I even had a cute and funny scene with him and Steve written already for this chapter, but because of Loki's insistence all you have now is a chapter of how witty and intelligent he is instead of FrostShield interactions.
> 
> That scene will definitely be in the next chapter though, no worries ;)
> 
> The Loki in this chapter might seem a little different from earlier chapters, but I assure you this is not the case. After all, our resident trickster has had plenty of time in his cell to concoct all these fabulous arguments against his crimes. He was bound to appear calm and composed in court. I don't know what you guys think, but to me, despite all the hurt and emotions Loki has inside him, he is not just some emokid that would lay depressed in his bed as the sky falls on him. Loki is a fighter, and even in the myths, comics and movies, regardless of what happened, he will always find a way to survive.


	4. Owe No Debts

When Agent Hill burst into his office without even a knock or warning, Nick Fury had been ready to chide her for her unprofessional behaviour. After all, the Director had been extremely edgy recently, with all the restoration work of New York to oversee, jaw clenching meetings with the Council to tackle and an annoying self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy to endure. He was certainly in no mood to be shocked – no, the Director was  _never_  shocked – disturbed by one of his subordinates while he was taking a well-deserved cat-nap in the sound refuge of his office.

But then, he saw the flustered look on Maria's face and stopped abruptly in the cutting remark he had been about to make. Before he knew it, Nick Fury was striding furiously behind the anxious agent as she led him along the corridors of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters to its lobby, where two visitors were waiting for him. Two very, very,  _extremely_  unwelcome visitors.

When he finally reached the lobby, storming into it and causing the door to slam against the wall with the violent force of his push, Nick saw for himself the two people Maria had told him about: The Thunder god who had sworn to bring the culprit behind all this mess to justice, and the god-damned, motherfucking asshole of a culprit himself. There they were, sitting at one of the round tables in the lobby, calmly,  _serenely_ , as though they had been waiting for a fucking tea party to start. Despite the warnings he had received beforehand from his subordinate, Nick felt his head throb painfully for the fifth time in the week. The god-damned accursed week. And it's only Tuesday.

"Would someone mind telling me why the fuck you guys are back  _here_?" The Director demanded testily, his eye seemingly about to bulge out of its socket. Thor stood up immediately at the sound of the man's arrival, took one glance at his enraged expression and gave a nervous gulp. Fury observed the Thunder god's anxiety with a grim satisfaction.

_Yes, damned motherfucker ought to be nervous. After all the promises he made, threats he issued about the fate of his lunatic of a brother; and now they are BACK here with the asshole without a single fucking scratch that I can see-_

"My father has handed Loki his sentence, Director." Thor informed Nick with an unusually meek voice and the Director's brows furrowed slightly at this announcement.

_Oh?_

Somehow, Nick had a bad feeling about this. What punishment could be so severe that Loki had to be brought back to Earth for it?

After he listened to Thor's explanation, however, the Director was convinced that the punishment was severe alright. Damn severe for Fury himself!

"Director?" Maria asked anxiously from his side as she watched the man squeeze his eye shut tightly and clench his jaw with unspoken tension. These were all bad signs; signs that the Director's blood pressure was rising to a dangerous level. Before him, Thor gave another gulp while Loki merely leant back further into his chair lazily, looking as though he couldn't care less.

"Agent Hill," Nick said finally, and was surprised himself when he heard how controlled and calm his voice was; apparently dealing with Tony Stark long enough has its perks. "Assemble the other Avengers. We  _need_  another meeting!" The man shot Loki a glare of utmost distaste and felt his blood boiling when the trickster _ignored_  him.

_God-damned bastard._

The Director knew for sure that it was going to be another long, tedious day ahead again.

XXX

"So..." Tony's voice broke the thick silence in the conference room as the billionaire, along with all the others present, gave Thor and Loki their hard, unwavering stares. "So... Odin dumped his kid back to us?"

Loki choked in disbelief at the man's words and Thor made some indecipherable noise of protest but Tony ignored both their indignation as he continued. "Let me guess; they ruled out grounding and time-outs in naughty corners as viable options in the Ass-guardian laws now?"

Steve watched quietly as Thor started chiding Tony for the billionaire's insinuation that the All Father would ever 'dump his kid' and gross mispronunciation of his realm's name. The Thunder god then started off on another furious tirade about the reasons behind his father's decision, the very same ones he had presented his friends with at the start of the meeting – not very convincingly, Steve thought – and bristle with frustration as Tony snidely countered those reasons. Slowly, the Captain started to drone out the noises from their loud, unending argument and instead, for some unknown reason, let his attention wander towards the God of Mischief slouched down in the chair next to his brother, appearing more and more resentful at his forced attendance with every passing minute.

As Steve observed Loki, taking in every detail etched in his face: the bitterness and hatred deep in his eyes, the ugly scowl his lips formed as he arranged his expression into a sulk, and the creasing of his forehead as his brows furrowed with what Steve deduced to be worry, the Captain felt another strange feeling rise from within his gut.

_So familiar... but not familiar. No, it seems familiar; No, how could he be familiar?_

Then, just as Steve was lost in his thoughts, gazing intently at Loki, the very same god's eyes flicked suddenly in his direction, stunning the man and giving him no time to prepare or avert his gaze. Their eyes met, and the Captain's heart stood still for a moment. Holding his breath with an unexplainable tension, Steve took in the bitterness and anger looming in the depths of those emerald eyes, accompanied with a bizarre tinge of hurt and resentment; Resentment that strangely seemed to be targeted at Steve, and Steve alone. Then, without warning, Loki's gaze hardened and the god turned away, leaving Steve staring at the side of his head and feeling a ridiculous, _ridiculous_  indignation at how Loki had just snubbed him.

 _But it makes no sense,_ Steve chided himself as he willed the illogical emotion to go away.  _Getting riled up just because Loki ignored you? Loki, of all people? That psychopath who killed hundreds and tried to do you in as well?_ The man gave a huff at the thought and adjusted his posture slightly to face Thor now instead of his errant brother. He then focused his attention back on what the Thunder god had to say, what he had been called into the meeting for in the first place, and decidedly pushed all thoughts of the God of Mischief and his bewildering little actions at the back of his mind.

"-with his powers and prowess in magic, Loki would be an asset to your realm's defences-"

" _Assuming_ he's not going to turn bat-shit crazy and blow  _our realm_  up instead!" Tony snorted disdainfully and Thor glared at the billionaire for his interruption. The man caught his team mate's displeased look and gave an uncaring scoff. "Look, Point Break, don't tell us your brother didn't try to take over the world and commit a mass genocide with a freaky alien army."

"He's dangerous." Natasha Romanoff agreed, finally speaking up after having remained silent all this while. The Widow's eyes swept over Loki for a second, sizing him up sceptically before continuing. "I don't trust him. We all don't."

Thor glared at all his team mates in the room, noting their stony faces and cynical expressions before giving a heavy sigh. He then reached down for his brother's arm and firmly hoisted it up, ignoring Loki's frustrated hiss as he did so. The eyes of the people in the room widened with mild surprise and curiosity when they saw a thick silver armlet secured tightly around the trickster's wrist, lined with a series of black and green gems. Steve noted with a frown how the trinket shone under the dim lighting of the conference room, surreal yet forbidding.

Loki growled angrily before wrenching his arm back from Thor's grip. The trickster then slowly massaged the spot which his brother had grabbed, taking care to avoid the inquisitive gazes shot in his direction. However, despite his effort to appear uncaring and aloof, there was no mistaking the fury and humiliation burning fiercely in his eyes.

Thor coughed awkwardly and shot his scowling brother an apologetic look before lifting his own hand for the other Avengers to see. There, circled firmly around his wrist, lay a similar silver armlet decorated with rows of black and blood-red gems. Tony gave a low whistle.

"Well, nice... couple bracelets; you guys even have matching colours-" The genius shrugged to Thor's irritated glare. "And your point is?"

"The All Father had anticipated your doubts," Thor began grimly, shooting Tony a dirty look as he did so. "And he has made sure to take precautions to my brother's potential lack of cooperation as well-" Loki's scowl deepened. "-by bestowing upon us these two powerful relics." Steve straightened up considerably at the god's words, just as many others in the room. Now this sounds... interesting.

Thor observed the rise in attention he was receiving with slight satisfaction before continuing. "The armlet on Loki has the ability to inhibit his magic, and the one I possess has the ability to control his. Should my brother abuse his powers again during his period of banishment, I will personally activate the relics and strip him of his magic, rendering him incapable of causing any harm to your realm."

There was a silence in the room after Thor's explanation, and many glances and thoughtful looks were exchanged upon consideration of the Thunder god's words. The message has been laid out clearly now, it was either that Loki cooperated with them and finish serving his time on Midgard –  _the sooner the better_  – or, he refused, turn on them, and get his magic drained, becoming no more than a powerless prisoner. It was fairly simple, really, and with all the possible options laid out, the Avengers didn't have much to lose with this bargain. It was just about whether they decide to accept the deal or not.

Fury, being the ever so shrewd Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was the first to realise this fact  _and_ make a decision based on it.

"And those bracelets – relics –" The man clicked his tongue in irritation at the slip and glared at Tony, who had dared to snicker. "They are certain to work? They won't malfunction?" Nick continued gruffly and Thor positively beamed at his words, knowing that his proposal has now been considered seriously by the Director.

"No. I swear by the name of the All Father that they will work," Thor declared confidently. "If the occasion calls for it." The god then added hastily and gave his brother a brief, anxious glance. Loki, however, seemed to be ignoring him and all conversation in the room as he glared at his own hands, determinedly keeping an uncaring expression on his face.

"And he won't be able to get it off himself?" Nick Fury probed cynically as he shot Loki a look of suspicion. Thor shook his head.

"No, the relics are infused with ancient magic, and the All Father himself has cast an additional spell on the armlets to ensure their security." Thor answered solemnly. "If Loki were to make any attempts at removing the armlet by himself, the process would backfire and his powers would be stripped as well."

Nick nodded slowly after listening to the explanation. "Sounds acceptable." The Director then muttered as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Wait!" Tony startled after hearing Nick's words. "You aren't seriously considering this, are you?" He gave the Director an incredulous stare and Fury gazed stonily back. "You're kidding me!" Tony exclaimed as he took in the unamused gaze from the one-eyed man. "No Fury. No. I'm not letting that psychotic reindeer wannabe move into the Stark Tower."

"Avengers' Tower." Clint Barton piped up all of a sudden. The archer had been sitting wordlessly throughout the past thirty-three minutes of the conference, trying to burn his nemesis in a crisp with his constant heated glares and it was a surprise to all when he finally spoke up. Even more so when the reason behind his sudden voicing of opinions was over the proper naming of the once-named Stark Tower that the Avengers now resided in.

"Stark Tower." Tony glared at Clint, who scoffed back.

This had been a usual argument between the two for quite some time now, ever since the rest of the Avengers had moved into Tony's tower upon Nick's orders and Tony's warm invitations. As Clint had disagreed with the billionaire's insistence of keeping his pretty name flashing at the top of the building and instead pointed out that the lone 'A' at the top of the tower was a good start to the renovation of the tower's design to include their team, both men had been breathing down each other's necks at every possible moment they had. It was a silly, petty argument, really, and everyone suspected that Clint was only doing this for the sake of pissing Tony off for his own amusement. Pepper also 'accidentally' let loose the secret that Tony had actually been redoing up a new tower design in the dark. However, their bickers still pop up at random moments, and although no one would have minded it usually, there were times when the two start it during entirely inappropriate occasions such as in the middle of a battle, or a meeting, just like this one.

Steve gave a cough of disbelief and saw from the corner of his eyes that Natasha was rolling her eyes in disdain. Bruce, on his part, seemed thoroughly bemused.

"Not the point." Clint retorted, and turned away from his annoyed friend to continue glaring at Loki. "I'm not having  _him_  in the place where I live, eat and sleep." The archer said shortly, ignoring the anxious look on Thor's face. "And it's Avengers' Tower." He added.

The room was silent after what Clint had said, despite Tony's frown of indignation at the last remark. Thor opened his mouth to protest once more but ended up leaving it hanging wordlessly. Regardless of his eagerness to protect his brother, the Thunder god, along with the others in the room, could not find any reason to counter Clint Barton's refusal to have Loki in his close proximity. After all, out of all the Avengers in the room, Hawkeye was probably the one affected the most by the wayward god – with the exception of Thor – and the one who hated the trickster the most. No one, not even Tony, dared to argue with him over that stand.

Steve looked around the table at his silent team mates before finally resting his gaze on the pair of Asgardian brothers. Thor looked positively flustered and stumped; Poor guy. Steve shook his head slightly at the god's dilemma. He knew it must be hard for Thor, to be trapped in between his brother and team mates, trying to help Loki redeem himself and yet not knowing how to do so without offending the other Avengers. The Captain's gaze then swept over to Loki, who simply sat there quietly, coolly; staring down at his hands without a single show of repentance or guilt. Steve felt an unspoken anger flare up inside him at the sight.

How could Loki appear this calm and unconcerned, letting his brother bear the burden of his supposed redemption? This was his problem in the first place, his punishment, not Thor's! Loki should be the one standing there, begging for forgiveness instead of sitting, slouched in his chair as though he was a mere observer. For a split moment, Steve thought that he had to agree with Tony and Clint: that the God of Mischief didn't deserve any second chances.

And then the image of a pair of skittish, desperate green eyes flashed in his mind again. That pair of frightened, depraved eyes which he had seen on Loki the day before he had been hurled back to Asgard by his brother. The strange, unexplainable flicker of hope that Steve had observed when his eyes had met with the god's during his visit to the trickster in his cell. And for some reason he couldn't quite fathom, a weird emotion stirred from within Steve. A feeling that gave him a bizarre obligation to speak up or say something about the matter, but he didn't know what.

"I think we should give him a chance," Steve said suddenly, and surprised everyone, himself included, with what he had said.

 _Steve Rogers, what have you done?!_  The Captain chided himself when he saw the stunned disbelieving stares the others shot him.

"You feeling alright, Cap?" Tony asked at last, and Steve felt somewhat offended at the rare genuine look of concern on the billionaire's face. "Not down with a fever or anything?"

"I'm perfectly clear-headed right now," Steve sighed in exasperation as he glanced around at his team mates.  _Well, damn... how do I salvage this?_ "It's just that, I've been thinking about what Thor said-" The Captain's gaze turned towards the god of Thunder and felt encouraged when he saw the grateful smile on his team mate's face. "-since Odin has banished Loki to Earth, and he can't return till he redeems himself, I don't see a point in locking him up for the rest of his life. It will serve as punishment for his crimes, but it won't benefit us, nor him and Thor in any way." Steve explained matter-of-factly. Glances were then shot in Thor's direction after listening to the Captain's words.

It was true, if Loki were unable to redeem himself and return, then Thor, as his guardian, would have to stay on Earth with him for eternity as well.

"So what you're saying, is that we should let Loki move into Stark Tower-" Tony ignored Clint's scoff. "-and live and work with the rest of the team?" The billionaire finished grudgingly.

Steve glanced around at his team, trying to see what their individual reactions to his suggestion were. Clint, for one, appeared utterly repulsed by the thought. Thor was of course, eager and happy. Bruce... seemed strangely intrigued by the idea while Natasha, on her part, appeared neutral. The Captain swallowed and turned back to Tony, who was still giving him the 'are-you-crazy-or-have-you-actually-been-touched-b y-Loki's-voodoo-stick' look.

"Yes, I think there's no harm in giving Loki a second chance." Steve replied determinedly. Tony gaped at him and Clint's expression considerably darkened. However, Thor's face lit up immediately.

"Thank you Captain." The Thunder god said sincerely after a moment and Steve gave him a smile. Then, his gaze flicked over to Loki and to his surprise, found that the trickster was staring at him with a look of shock, incredulity and some other emotion that the Captain could not decipher. It lasted only a second, however, as Loki quickly realised that Steve had noticed his expression and averted his gaze, leaving the man to continue staring at the side of the god's face in bewilderment.

Tony opened his mouth to give another argument but was stopped by Bruce.

"Steve has a point," the scientist remarked and Tony turned on his friend in disbelief.

"Not you too, Bruce?"

Bruce chuckled at the flabbergasted look on Tony's face. "Magic, Tony. Magic." He said simply and Tony frowned in puzzlement.

"I don't see how- oh, oh, OH!" The genius's eyes widened as the meaning behind Bruce's words dawned on him and his frown turned into a grin of excitement. Tony then turned to Loki. "You will explain to us the mechanics and workings behind your magic." The man exclaimed as he pointed to the frowning trickster. "Your teleportation, illusions, and whatever voodoo you are capable of."

Seeing that his brother was not about to reply, Thor took the initiative to answer for him.

"My brother would be pleased to assist, Tony Stark." Thor said amiably while Loki's face contorted into a scowl that did not look very pleased at all. "As according to the terms of his banishment." The Thunder god added as a warning to his brother, who did not even bother to glare back.

"Alright," Tony said gleefully as he leant back into his chair. "Turn my vote to the 'pro' side." The billionaire commented to Director Fury, who decidedly ignored the man. "Sorry pal," Tony then added to Hawkeye, whose face could not get any stonier at this point. "Science triumphs all."

"Alright," Nick Fury said finally. "It seems as though we have come to a consensus? That Loki will move into the Tower under Thor's supervision, and as redemption for his past acts, will be obligated to give his aid to defend Earth when the situation calls for it?" The Director gazed around the room, finally coming to a stop at Clint Barton and everyone kept silent, knowing that the question was posed for the archer in the first place.

Clint scowled. "I'm out-numbered, aren't I?" He asked scornfully and Natasha, who was beside him, gave him a comforting pat on the thigh. Clint gazed at his partner for a moment before giving a sigh. "Alright, for the team. Only the team." He added irritably and shot a dirty look at Loki. "If the bastard tries anything funny while he's there, I'm gonna shoot his brains out. And I don't care if that's going to cause another inter-galactic Star Wars."

Bruce saw that Steve and Thor looked somewhat lost at the archer's words and gave a sigh. "It's a pop-culture reference." He explained.

Tony, however, gave a thoughtful hum at Clint's words. "Yeah, Birdy's words have merit here." He said at last and Hawkeye seemed about to murder him for the nickname. "We gotta set rules for Rudolph here to follow if he's going to start living with us. I'd say we oughta start with 'No murdering us in our sleep.'- Say! Point Break-" Thor frowned at Tony's way of addressing him. "-can we get those sparkly bracelets like yours as well, for protection?"

"I'm afraid not, Tony Stark." Thor replied grimly. "The power of the relics is entrusted only to me by our father. Unless the situation is truly grave, even I cannot activate them, for the draining of my brother's powers will have a severe and lasting impact on his magical core."

Tony gave a pout at the god's answer. "Well that sucks."

"No magic." Clint spoke up suddenly, and his hard gaze bore into Loki. "He's not to use any magic at all in the Tower. No magic, no tricks, none of the shit that he always likes to pull."

"Good idea, Barton!" Tony agreed as he tapped his fingers together lightly. "No magic in the tower, I don't want to wake up and find my tower whisked off to the middle of the Sahara Desert. Reindeer Games wants to use magic? He has to ask for permission."

"But, my brother uses magic for most of his daily activities," Thor voiced anxiously in protest. "Such as the preparation of food, his daily change of clothes-"

"Well tough luck then," Tony interrupted, his voice harsh and unfeeling. "We have electronic appliances for all that. He wants to stay here, he got to learn to live the mortal way. Welcome to Earth, jackass."

The other Avengers murmured their agreements and Thor sank back into his seat, knowing when he was defeated. Loki, however, looked as though the decision did not affect him one bit, and continued gazing at his hands, as though lost in thought. Nick Fury cleared his throat after a few seconds.

"Well, looks like it's been decided then." The Director confirmed. Then, his gaze hardened. "Loki-," the trickster's head lifted at hearing his name and he turned to the man who addressed him with a puzzled frown. "-are there any comments you would like to add?" Nick asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and Loki scowled.

"I don't think I have any say in this matter, do I?" The god retorted and Tony gave a scornful laugh.

"Of course you don't. No one gives a fuck about your opinions." The billionaire scoffed and Clint's lips actually twitched upwards slightly for a moment.

With that, the meeting was ended and Steve watched as the Director and his team mates filed out of the room one by one. Director Fury left first, arranging the files before him in a huff and muttering something about 'a damned lot of paper work' under his breath. Bruce and Tony followed, with the latter chattering about something excitedly to his amused friend. Natasha gave Clint a pat on his shoulder, and the archer smiled softly at the woman as he stood up and exited the room with her. Then, it was only Steve, Thor, and Loki, left alone in the conference room.

As he rose from his chair, Thor shot Steve a grateful smile, one that the Captain accepted whole-heartedly. Then, he watched as the Thunder god led his brother out of the room, and his gaze followed Loki's back till the trickster's figure disappeared out of the frame of the doorway.

And without a single acknowledgement of Steve's presence too!

The Captain huffed as he stood up from his chair, preparing to leave the room as well. On his way out, along the empty corridors of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, Steve's brows furrowed as he pondered over his earlier actions.

" _I think there's no harm in giving Loki a second chance."_

Why? Why had he done the things he did? Said the things he had said?

Not for Loki. That's for certain. Why would Steve do anything for Loki? That man was a psychopath, a murderer. He killed so many people in so little days. He was a tyrant, a bully, the type of men Steve had always fought against, and will always fight against for the rest of his life.

_So why did I help him?_

Not him, Steve told himself grimly as he strode along the corridors, unintentionally ignoring a few puzzled agents who had greeted him as he swept past them, lost in his thoughts. It was not for Loki. Not because he had felt any sympathy for Loki.

It was for Thor.

Steve had felt sorry for the Thunder god's struggle. He had been touched by Thor's love for his brother. The Captain nodded to himself at the thought. Yes, that must be why, he reasoned to himself as he reached for the motorcycle keys in the pocket of his brown leather jacket and turned it to a click in the ignition. As Steve rev-ed the vehicle up, the image of Loki's dark green eyes appeared in his mind once more, reminding him of the sorrow and empty hope he had seen in them. Those emotions had entranced him so.

Steve blinked in surprise and finally gave a scowl.  _This is getting a little too far, Steve Rogers,_ he told himself sternly.  _Keep this up and you might just have to see one of those psychiatrists Phil had recommended._

He gave his head a firm shake before driving off, heading back to the Avengers' Tower. All thoughts of Loki were left behind him, trailing along with the fumes of exhaust that were emitted from the Captain's motorcycle. Rejected. Abandoned. Forgotten.

XXX

As Loki sat in the car provided by S.H.I.E.L.D. for his and Thor's transportation to the Avengers' Tower, his mind became occupied with the thoughts about one man. One alone.

That insufferable, confusing mortal.

He had helped Loki.

_But why?_

Loki frowned. It made no sense. He knew for certain that Steven Rogers didn't remember him. He could see it in the mortal's eyes when they had met each other's gaze during the conference earlier. Steven still had no recognition of him; he still hadn't remembered Loki from his past. He had not recalled his childhood memories, and probably would never will. Why then, did Captain America, America's living symbol of justice and liberty, help Loki Odinson, the war criminal?

Beside him, Thor shifted a little uncomfortably at the lack of space from his side of the car seat and brushed his shoulder against Loki's. This jolted the trickster from his train of thoughts immediately. Loki gave an annoyed hiss and shifted irritably away to the far edge of the seat, displeased with even this simple bit of contact with his not-brother. As Thor was left giving him a stare that was both hurt and apologetic, Loki turned away from him and focused his thoughts back on Steven Rogers.

The man who didn't even remember him.

Loki scowled. Why is Loki still stubbornly chasing after that lost bit of memory in his childhood when the other had already forgotten about it long ago? It was stupid. It was illogical. And it brought no benefit to the God of Mischief. None at all. What was Loki hoping to gain from it? A renewed friendship? A companion?

_Bah!_

The god scoffed spitefully as he glared out of the window, sulking at the sights of the Midgardian city moving past in a blur. Thor gave his brother a wary glance for his strange behaviour but otherwise made no show of his bewilderment.

_Perhaps he thinks I'll be grateful to him for his help._

Loki could have laughed in scorn at the thought. He had been grateful to Steven Rogers once; 90 years ago when the mortal had saved – no Loki hadn't really needed saving – defended him from the pack of bullies in a deserted ally way. He had been touched by the mortal's simple act, and had thus granted him his friendship – which the mortal hadn't even remembered – and his trust. Even though Steven Rogers had not really helped Loki at all, Loki had felt that he owed the mortal a debt, not for saving him, nor defending him, but for caring, for being willing to be his friend.

His friend.

 _That was in the past now_ , Loki thought bitterly.  _Steven Rogers is no longer a friend, and I, too, no longer need his friendship._ The trickster's fists clenched tightly as he remembered how the man had fought against him in the earlier war, how the Captain had fixed him with a steely, unfeeling gaze during his time of capture, how Steve had forgotten about him.

He forgot about Loki.

If Loki had owed him any debts, then Steven Rogers had reclaimed it all when he had thwarted the god's plans in the past. Loki owed him nothing now. He owed the mortal nothing. Loki nodded firmly as he repeated the thought to himself, as though by pure repetition that idea would stick steadfast and make itself true. He owed Steve nothing.

_I owe Steven Rogers no debts._

XXX

Steve headed towards the kitchen in the Avengers' Tower, meaning to get a cool drink after his lengthy gym workout.

It had become somewhat of a habit for the Captain recently; whenever he wasn't helping out with the restoration of the city, whenever Director Fury didn't have any assignments for him or when he simply could not bear the pain of sketching past memories any longer, Steve would always hit the gym in the Tower for a vigorous workout to forget his troubles and grab a cold drink to cool down afterwards. It was a familiar route for him now: the path from the gym to the kitchen, and as Steve strode briskly along, nothing out of the ordinary happened. It was all normal, and within the routine. Then, he stepped into the kitchen and almost at once, was stunned and did a double take.

There, standing before the kitchen counter as bold as brass, was no other than Loki himself, with his brows furrowed in frustration while he attempted to figure out the workings of the microwave.

Steve gaped.

It was the first time the man had seen Loki around the Avengers' Tower since the god moved in with them on the terms of the cooperative agreement. The moment Loki had stepped into the tower, he had headed straight into the room allocated to him and never left it for a single second. The only Avenger who had seen Loki at all during the next two weeks was Thor, who had made it his solemn duty to deliver food to his brother every day. Even so, all that the Thunder god had managed to catch were quick glimpses of Loki when he slammed his door in Thor's face or snarled at him from between the cracks of the doorway for bringing him the wrong jam.

The other Avengers did not object to this arrangement though. In fact, they seemed more relieved than anything else. Despite being the one who had suggested that perhaps they ought to give Loki a second chance, even Steve agreed that things were a lot more peaceful the way they were now, compared to what was expected after the God of Mischief had moved in with them.

However, it seems that even Loki can't hole himself up in a room forever.

Steve stared at the god for a moment. After a second, Loki seemed to realize that he was being watched and froze abruptly in what he was doing, the curious, confused expression on his face changing into a scowl. The god then turned sharply towards Steve and when he saw who it was, shot the man such a venomous glare that the Captain shuddered and promptly looked away.

_What's with this guy?_

Steve inhaled deeply and walked towards the refrigerator, feeling Loki's glare on his back the whole time. He opened the fridge, got out a bottle of juice and twisted the cap open before taking a long swig, decidedly ignoring the god. Loki glared at the side of Steve's head for another two seconds before returning his attention back to the microwave, fiddling with the buttons and cursing under his breath when he couldn't get it to work. Steve lowered himself onto one of the chairs, placing his bottle on the dining table and observed Loki with interest. He soon spotted a slab of lasagna carefully placed in cling wrap in the microwave.

_So Loki's trying to prepare dinner for himself?_

As he watched Loki struggle with the electrical appliance, Steve idly wondered if he should go over and lend the god a hand. After all, it only seemed right to do so. Steve himself had received a lot of help from others when he was in the process of adapting to the modern world. However, Loki had this eerie, forbidding air around him and Steve didn't know if approaching the god was such a good idea. Besides, the look Loki had given him earlier was unnerving. It was an expression of fury, hatred and resentment all rolled into one; as though Steve had somehow offended the god gravely in a way he didn't even know about.

Steve felt another shiver run down the length of his spine once more at the image of the god's cold, glinting eyes and took another sip of his drink. He then continued watching Loki's back silently as the god pressed all the wrong buttons on the microwave and started hissing in frustration when the microwave did not start.

"Don't press that yet." Steve said suddenly as Loki reached out for a button. The god froze in his actions abruptly. "That's the defrost button, but first you'll need to-"

Loki spun around and shot Steve such a murderous glare that the man shut up immediately and shifted his gaze away from the testy god, suddenly becoming interested in a tiny smudge on the table cloth.

_Doesn't pay to be nice to some people..._

Steve huffed as he took another sip from his bottle. Loki gave him one last cold look before turning back to the microwave again. However, he did avoid the defrost button this time, and instead started fiddling with some of the other buttons. Soon, another curse escaped the god's lips after a further five minutes of fruitless attempts.

At last, Steve couldn't stand it any longer.

"Look," he sighed, standing up from his seat and walking over next to Loki, ignoring the scowl on the god's face. "You got to plug it in first."

Steve reached out for the power plug of the microwave dangling uselessly by the side of the counter and plugged it into the electric socket nearby. The microwave started up immediately. "Then just set the timer... And hit defrost." Steve said matter-of-factly as he pressed the defrost button. "Ms Potts taught me this." He turned to Loki with a bright smile and was taken aback when he saw the god  _glowering_  at him.

After all, it was not as though Steve had expected Loki to beam at him or thank him or anything of that sort. Heck, he didn't even expect his past foe to show him appreciation in any way. However, even an expressionless stare would be better than the murderous look Loki was giving him now.

"I did not request for your help!" Loki snapped all of a sudden and Steve's surprise promptly turned into anger at the god's ungratefulness.

The man glared back sternly at Loki. "That's rude and uncalled for."

Loki gave a nasty laugh in reply. "I owe you no debts!" He spat coldly, stunning Steve with what he said. The god then drew himself up to his full height and gazed down condescendingly at the Captain. "Mortal." He sneered at the look of incredulity and indignation on Steve's face before storming out of the kitchen, leaving the man standing next to the ticking microwave in a state of utter bewilderment.

_Owe? Debts? What was that about?_

"Hey!" The Captain called out after the god but heard a door slamming from a distance. The bemused man then leant heavily onto the counter, his brows furrowed with puzzlement.

_Mortal? That was meant to be an insult? Really?_

Steve heaved an exasperated sigh and turned his gaze to the lasagna slowly heating in the microwave. And now Loki had left him with this. What was he supposed to do with it? Steve wasn't even hungry.

The Captain stared blankly at the warm lasagna for a moment, idly fretting about how he could avoid wasting this bit of food before he heard footsteps and voices nearing the kitchen. He glanced up and saw Tony and Bruce entering through the doorway, messy-haired, red-eyed and so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice Steve standing there.

They must have just left the laboratories after one of their overnight science 'slumber-parties' again, no doubts about it.

"Capsicle!" Tony exclaimed when he finally spotted Steve and the Captain scowled at the nickname.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Steve chided but the billionaire simply grinned.

"Right Cappie," he quipped and Steve rolled his eyes, too weary to correct him any further. "What's that you got there?" Tony asked curiously as he walked closer towards Steve and the microwave. "Lasagna!" The man gasped dramatically when he saw the food, placing his hand before his chest in a sign of mock hurt. "And you weren't going to share?"

Bruce, who was standing behind Tony all this while, quaked with silent laughter.

Steve stared at the billionaire incredulously for a moment, and then an idea popped into his mind.

"You can have it." Steve informed Tony, decidedly keeping a straight face at his friend's stunned look as he did so. He then walked over to the table, grabbed his half finished bottle of juice and promptly exited the kitchen. Tony's jaw fell open.

"What?" The billionaire stared in surprise at the lasagna in the microwave for a moment before calling out after Steve. "Hey Captain! You sure about this?"

"Yeah! Why not?"

At Steve's reply, Tony turned to Bruce with a puzzled expression and saw that the scientist had his brows raised as well. There was a moment of silence as they shared a 'what is he up to?' look of suspicion before Tony finally gave up and shrugged. "Why not?"

The billionaire then walked over to the microwave just as the timer rang.

"Oh man, I'm starving! Aren't you starving, Bruce?"

"I sure am." Bruce replied with an exasperated grin as he watched Tony clumsily attempt to move the lasagna onto a plate he just grabbed from nearby and drop the food with an 'Ouch! That's hot!' on the counter surface instead. The billionaire then hastily scooped the fallen lasagna onto the plate with his fingers. Bruce grimaced.

"You don't think Rogers is going around testing all my tech and leaving bits of food lying around the house, do you?" Tony frowned as he sucked the tomato sauce off his scalded fingers.

"Don't think so Tony," Bruce chuckled as he observed his friend. "They valued food a lot during Steve's time."

"Right. World War II eh," Tony murmured in agreement. The man then gave another nonchalant shrug. "Oh well, who cares?" He grabbed the plate of lasagna and headed towards the dining table. "Come on, let's eat."

After Tony set the plate on the table, he realised that Bruce was not beside him and turned to find his friend shuffling tiredly over to the cupboards.

"Didn't you say you were starving?" The billionaire asked in surprise as Bruce opened the cupboard doors and grabbed a loaf of bread and some jam. The scientist then turned and gave Tony a weary look.

"I did, but I'm not having  _that_." Bruce replied with a nod towards the lasagna. Tony chuckled.

"What? Don't trust the food Rogers left behind?" He teased. Bruce flashed him a wry smile.

"I don't trust the way  _you_  handle food." He pointed out dryly as he walked over and placed the bread and a jar of apricot jam on the table. Tony stared at the scientist with bemusement as Bruce took the seat opposite of him.

"You wound me, Brucie." The billionaire gave his friend a mock pout. Bruce ignored him and started spreading jam thickly on a slice of bread.

"You really aren't having any?" Tony asked once more. Bruce shook his head.

Tony sighed and gazed down at his plate of lasagna. Now that Bruce had mentioned it, bread and jam does seem like a more appetizing alternative. He continued staring distastefully at the clump of food on his plate for a few seconds before his stomach gave a growl of protest.

_Ah what the hell!_

Tony huffed and picked up his fork. He dug in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfftt... Tony's way of handling food is really unhygienic isn't it? Bruce is real wise for not eating the food he has handled.
> 
> A lot of cognitive dissonance in this chapter, Steve is terribly confused and Loki is just in pure denial right now. Get ready for more Stoki interactions next chapter, big time!


	5. A Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may seem more like a filler chapter, but still, do enjoy!

" _So... I believe I owe you a debt."_

" _You don't owe me anything. I was only doing what's right."_

" _Why did you do it?"_

" _What?"_

" _Why did you help me?"_

_..._

" _You will be a great soldier."_

Steve's eyes flew open and he found himself staring at a plain white ceiling. The man blinked once before the recognition of where he was sank in – his own bedroom in the Avengers' Tower. A low groan escaped from his lips as he rubbed his eyes groggily.

_What... What was that about?_

Something didn't feel right.

Steve winced as he pushed away the covers and slowly propped himself upright against the headrest of his bed. The Captain felt uneasy, and bothered. His heart was racing at an unusually fast pace, his body was unnaturally warm, and there was a strange, bizarre feeling of familiarity blossoming inside his chest. It was as though something had just happened; something impactful, something that had happened once before.

A dream? A nightmare?

Steve closed his eyes in an effort to concentrate on recalling the dream he had just a minute ago. It was just there, or  _should be_  just there, tucked away in some corner of his mind, hidden and teasing. Teasing; Beckoning him to recall it. However, the harder he tried, the harder all memories of that dream seemed to evade him. Irksomely so. There was something he could remember though, a brief flash of green that lasted for no more than a second. A single second. The man gave a sigh of frustration.

_Fat load of help that would be..._

Steve slid his legs off from the bed and made his way to the bathroom, his head still foggy and confused. Leaning against the classy glass vessel sink, the Captain turned the tap on and allowed the water to run. He splashed some of it onto his face, feeling relief at the coolness on his skin and felt his initial tension gradually fading away. After a while, Steve glanced up, and his reflection in the excessively large wall mirror before him caught his eye. His hair was sticking out in tufts, giving him an embarrassingly messy bed head; his cheeks were flushed, a clear indication that he had just been hot and bothered a second ago; drops of water dripped steadily from his chin, streaking past the stubbles that had grown in his night's sleep.

Steve stared for a moment, and then finally could not resist the grin tugging at the edge of his lips. This is him.

_Captain America._

He gave an amused chuckle when he thought of what Phil Coulson and many others who had idolised him would say if they saw him now, messy-hair, unkempt, and in desperate need for a good shave. Their faces alone would speak a thousand words, that was for sure. Steve grinned again, and reached for the towel hanging next to the sink. The laugh he had and the softness of the cloth against his skin as he dried his face calmed the Captain down considerably, and by the time he glanced up at himself in the mirror again, face reasonably dry and less groggy now, his breathing was easy and relaxed once more. All thoughts of the bad ( _or good?_ ) dream he had earlier were pushed to the back of his head, and Steve focused his attention on preparing himself for the day ahead instead, reaching out to grab his toothbrush.

When the Captain finally stepped out of the bathroom, fresh-shaven and combing through his now tidy hair absent-mindedly with his fingers, he found himself pausing momentarily in his tracks again as he gazed around his room. The numerous portraits of Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos stared back at him, and the smile on Steve's face faded as he felt another sinking feeling in his stomach, instantly replacing the good mood he had for the morning.

Phil Coulson would kill him if he knew. The Agent had advised Steve hundreds of times in the past against the negative impacts of constantly exposing himself to objects that will remind him of his past. "It was an unhealthy obsession," Phil had said grimly as he eyed all the portraits Steve had sketched, "it will only make things worse for you."

The others had agreed whole-heartedly with what Phil had said. Tony had even suggested that he could get Steve a gramophone or a black and white television instead if the Captain was really adamant about reminiscing the past. However, somehow, Steve couldn't help but surround himself with these portraits, these drawings that he had spent ages mulling over, sketching each feature, each detail to utmost perfection.

Steve walked over and touched one of the portraits of Peggy delicately. His past lover was smiling in this drawing, her eyes warm and beautiful like sunshine and Steve could almost hear her soft, elegant laughter coming from those well-sculpted lips.

_You don't like music?_

_I do, actually. I might, even when this is all over, go dancing._

A pang of grief struck Steve's heart at the memory, and with every additional second he spent gazing at Peggy, the more he found himself longing for her; her company, her embrace, and her comfort. And it wasn't only Peggy Carter that Steve missed dearly; there were also the Howling Commandos, the men who had fought bravely and fearlessly beside him in the war, closer than brothers. There was also General Philips, whom Steve never forged a close bond with but still respected nonetheless. There was also-

Steve's gaze turned to the portrait next to Peggy's, and could not resist a doleful smile when he saw Bucky Barnes grinning at him teasingly with a cheeky wink.

_Sometimes I think you like getting punched._

Steve chuckled. "Jerk," he mumbled fondly to the drawing of his best friend.

Yes, Steve missed them all. And the portraits of them didn't help ease his pain of losing them at all, not one bit. However, Steve continued keeping them around him, displaying them where he would be able to see easily the very moment he woke up or entered the room. Not because he was a masochist, like Tony suggested, but because he couldn't just part with the memories. These portraits, they served as a constant reminder of who he was; not the infallible hero idolised in war stories, nor the perfect, flawless legend the people of America speak of, but the little guy from Brooklyn; The little guy who never stood down from a fight.

The Captain sighed, and gazed around his room once more. The many faces of Peggy and Bucky gazed back, some frowning, some smiling, and Steve wondered if his earlier dream, the one which had troubled him so, had been about them. It would make sense, in a way, if it was. Steve had lost count of the number of times he had woken up in a cold sweat, screaming Bucky's name as images of his best friend falling from the train on the icy mountains flashed in his mind. He had also experienced countless dreams where Peggy's voice echoed in his head, reminding him repeatedly of their dance date before he woke, eyes still moist with tears.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled sharply, forcing all these painful thoughts to the back of his head. Despite his grief and sorrow, the Captain knew that he couldn't just wallow about in self-pity forever. He turned his thoughts back to the present.

Restoration works in the city were coming along smoothly. It has been about two months since Loki's attack, and although Steve had been able to busy himself during the first few weeks by helping in the clearing of debris and disposal of the corpses and weapons of the fallen Chitauri, there was really nothing much for him for him to do now. Nick Fury hadn't set the Avengers on any new missions to protect the Earth either, and Phil also seemed to lack the time to plan any modern day inoculation programmes for him, too busy recovering and being flooded head-high with paper work. Thus, it seems as though Steve would have to find a distraction for himself using his own means.

Steve glanced over to the worn-out wrist wraps strewn messily over the surface of his bedside table where he had last thrown them, too tired and weary to pack them away neatly in his closet. He grimaced.

_No, not today_.

Steve was in no mood to hit the gym today. His gaze then flicked over to the sketchbook lying underneath the wraps. The man gave a sigh.

_Okay, perhaps not so much of a distraction..._

The Captain walked over and picked up his sketchbook, tossing the bundle of cloth on top of it aside as he did so. He would tidy the mess up later. The man then paused to grab a pencil on his way out and started making his way down to the large, spacious common room in the tower. It was all he needed: a pencil, his sketchbook, and a strong cup of coffee.

Phil will not be pleased with his plans for the day, but at least Phil is not around to witness these plans.

XXX

The fourteenth sketch of Peggy Carter gazed up sternly at Steve as he added lines and shadows, fleshing out her face and giving her cheeks that warm rosy glow he remembered on the lady.

Soon, the portrait was done, propped up against his cup of coffee and frowning at the Captain, who smiled as he admired his work. Beside it were several balls of paper, crumpled up and abandoned by the man, regarded as failed attempts which he did not even bother continuing. This sketch though, was perfect. It was the exact same expression that Steve had caught on Peggy's face when he saved her from the incoming car of the Nazi assassin. That very same look of determination, confidence and indignation.

_I had him!_

_Sorry!_

Steve smiled at the memory. It seemed a lot more amusing now than it had all those years ago, and the man was pretty sure his lover would have laughed along with him at the memory if she was here, beside him. Then that amusement faded into sadness again and Steve closed his eyes, frustrated at how these painful emotions always seemed to overcome him at all the wrong times and moments. After a few seconds, the man's eyes snapped open again and he gave a huff as he flipped the page on his sketchbook, the image of Peggy vanishing from his sight.

_Right! New sketch... new distraction..._

As Steve stared at the blank piece of paper before him, he wondered about what he should draw next. A portrait of Bucky? No, that would be just as painful as Peggy's had been. The same goes for the Howling Commandoes, General Philips and Doctor Erskine. Steve sighed. It seems as though he's running out of ideas.

_Perhaps a sketch of the Avengers?_

The Captain brightened up at the thought. He had only done one portrait of his team thus far, and to be honest he was pretty pleased with it. So were the others, it appeared. Clint Barton had caught a glimpse of the drawing before Steve could hide it away safely in his room and had snatched the sketch out of the Captain's hands, musing at the 'pretty artwork'. The archer then ran off eagerly to show it to the others and it was not long before he and Tony were gleefully pinning the drawing up on the fridge, much to the amusement of the others and the embarrassment of Steve. The Captain had not dared to draw another portrait of his team mates since then, for fear of the exaggerated fuss that had risen from his first.

But now, there's not much else to draw anyway...

Steve smiled, and he lifted his pencil to start adding the first line to the empty white space when a sudden image popped up in his mind. He paused abruptly and frowned. For some unknown reason, instead of picturing the smiling, happy faces of his team mates as he had intended, a pair of glowing green eyes appeared in his head instead. Steve's brows furrowed as he stared at the blank piece of paper, and the image of those gleaming green eyes seemed to loom clearer and clearer. As his pencil moved along the plane of the paper, slowly tracing out the lines pictured in his mind, a drawing of a large pair of bright, innocent eyes appeared, taking the place of the originally intended Avengers' portrait. When the final shadow was added, carefully shaded to bring the drawing to life, Steve found himself staring at his own sketch with fascination, totally enthralled.

_It looks... familiar._

The pupils of the eyes were a bright shade of emerald green in the Captain's mind, but they were simply black and white on paper. Nonetheless, as Steve gazed at the drawing, he could not stop that bizarre feeling of familiarity from rising within his gut again. He had seen these eyes somewhere before, on someone he knew; But who? Steve frowned. There was only one person he knew of who had eyes which were as striking a shade of green as these ones.

But it couldn't be him... These eyes had a certain innocent feel to them. They looked young, they shone with mischievousness. They were  _pure_.

The man Steve knew, was not.

Steve lifted his pencil again. New lines were added to the once innocent pair of eyes, causing it to grow increasingly malicious and cruel with every additional stroke of the pencil. Darker shadows were shaded around the edges and the corners, mercilessly morphing the gaze from one which was originally naive and cheerful to one filled with spite and envy. After he was done, Steve stared at the portrait once more and this time, saw the eyes of Loki Odinson glaring up at him, hateful, angry and bitter.

Yes,  _these_  are Loki's eyes. The ones he had sketched earlier, were not.

However, it was still strange somehow, Steve thought as he frowned at the angry gaze of his enemy. How had the image of the earlier pair of eyes entered his mind? He had certainly never seen them before, at least, as far as he could remember. When Steve had met Loki, the god's eyes were already full of malice, his gaze already deranged and bitter. There had been no instances where Loki had ever appeared as innocent and sincere as in his first sketch. Why then, had Steve seen that same pair of eyes, which were so angry and insane now, as cheerful and happy?

_It makes no sense..._

Steve continued staring blankly at his sketch, and as the minutes ticked on, a new doubt suddenly entered his mind, pushing away the questions he had just minutes ago. How did a pair of eyes as innocent and pure as the first, turn into one which were now so full of hate? Steve had been the one to add the lines and shadows on paper, but what, or  _who_ , had been the one to sow such hate and malevolence within the God of Mischief in real life?

"Hell! I'm dying!"

A sudden loud groan snapped Steve out of his stupor and the Captain gazed up in alarm, hurriedly hiding his sketchbook and the portrait of Loki's emerald orbs behind his back just in time before Tony and Bruce entered the common room. The former looked worse for wear, and Steve's initial puzzlement and shock was immediately replaced with concern for his team mate when the man sunk down on the spot opposite of him on the circular couch, his eyes squeezed shut with pain.

"What happened?" Steve's gaze turned anxiously from Tony to Bruce, who had followed his friend to the couch and was now staring down at the man with a similar look of worry. The scientist had just opened his mouth to answer Steve's question when Tony's eyes flew open, glaring at the Captain for some reason he didn't understand.

"You happened!" The billionaire snapped. Bruce took a glance at Steve's befuddlement and gave a sigh of both amusement and exasperation.

"It's the lasagna from last night." The scientist explained. "Tony's been having the runs ever since he ate it." Steve's mouth formed a silent 'O' at the revelation and Tony continued glaring at the super soldier crossly.

"Yeah, did you lace it with rat poison or something? Because that's not a very nice thing to do to a team mate." Tony shook his finger with disapproval at a flabbergasted Steve and at the very next moment, groaned in pain and clutched at his stomach. "Damn! This has happened at least 15 times since last night!"

"With all due respects Sir," Jarvis's calm voice sounded in the room. "If Captain Rogers had used rat poison, I believe you'd be having more than just the runs. Besides, my recordings showed that you had only visited the washroom six times since last night, not fift-"

"You stay out of this, Jarvis!" Tony retorted curtly and Steve could not resist giving a tiny grin at the AI's snark despite his concern for his friend. After all, Tony had programmed his  _baby_  to take after him in many ways, and it was rather amusing to see the billionaire getting annoyed by his own created personality some times. Steve glanced up to Bruce and saw that the man was also wearing a look of mirth on his face.

"Perhaps you should relook your habits of handling food rather than blaming it all on Steve, Tony." The scientist commented dryly as he took the seat next to the billionaire. "After all, I'm sure the residual machine oil on your hands wouldn't mix well with tomato sauce."

Tony's glare turned from Steve to Bruce. "What's this? No sympathy for the patient?" He scoffed and Bruce rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I expected more from you, Bruce. You siding with Capsicle now?"

Steve gave an awkward cough at this point, and both men's attention turned towards him. "Erm... well, I'm sorry that you're in this state, Tony," the Captain began apologetically and Tony scoffed. "But the lasagna wasn't mine," Steve continued, and his voice sounded a tad more cautious at this point. "It was Loki's."

"Loki?!"

Just as Steve had expected, his team mates' eyes widened with shock at the mention of the god and Tony, on his part, paled considerably.

"Damn it. This is it. I'm gonna die." The billionaire groaned as he gave his face a furious rub. Bruce simply seemed to be at a complete loss of words. "Do you think it's too late to puke it all out now?" Tony turned to his friend and Bruce stared at him in disbelief.

"I think you've already gotten it all out of your systems during your trips to the washrooms." The scientist reminded and Tony blinked in astonishment.

"Indeed Sir," Jarvis agreed. "My scans indicate that you are merely having a mild case of food poisoning. Some antibiotics and perhaps another trip to the washroom would be sufficient."

"Right." The billionaire sank back into the couch and closed his eyes unhappily. "But still, J, take this down. If I die, all my money and my company goes to Pepper. Include yourself, Dum-E and Me in the list, Pep will take good care of you guys. Bruce, my labs and equipment are yours. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still not allowed to touch my suits. Also, tell Barton he's free to pry that 'A' off the top of the tower and take it wherever he's pleased."

"Noted Sir."

The sides of Bruce's lips quirked up slightly at Tony's words. "I'm touched."

Steve took in the exchange with amusement and at the very next moment, Tony's eyes snapped open and the man was glaring at him once more. " _You_  get nothing." He pointed out, voice thick with accusation, and Steve couldn't help it. He chuckled.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Steve replied with a grin. Tony did not look as tickled as he was.

"But seriously, Rogers," Tony scowled. "What the hell were you doing with Loki's food? You're not carousing with the enemy now, are you?"

Steve gaped at him. "I'm what?" He asks incredulously and Tony scoffs.

"Carousing. Otherwise known as frolicking, painting the town red, whooping it up," The billionaire replied scornfully, much to Steve's indignation. "All aren't good things to do with Rudolph."

"I know what carousing means, Stark." Steve retorted. "I'm not an idiot."

Seeing that an argument was about to break out between the two,  _again_ , Bruce sighed and twiddled with the frame of his spectacles wearily. "Look you two, calm down." The scientist said firmly as his gaze swept between his team mates. "And Steve," he added after a few seconds' pause, "I've got to admit I'm a little curious. Why was Loki's food with you?" The man asked and Steve appeared stunned by his question. "He wasn't around when Tony and I were in the kitchen."

"He-" Steve paused for a moment. How should he explain this? Then, he caught the dirty look Tony was giving him and felt the indignation at his team mate's unwarranted hostility welling up within him again. "Loki was trying to prepare dinner, okay?" Steve huffed, giving Tony a frustrated glare. "He didn't know how to operate the microwave, so I helped him. Then he threw a tantrum, and stormed out. And left the food behind."

"Loki was trying to cook? With a microwave?" Bruce looked as surprised as Steve had been last night when he saw Loki in the kitchen. "Loki? The God of Lies and Mischief?"

"Apparently." Steve replied, still irritated by Tony's words. Tony, however, did not seem to care.

"Alright, first things first," The billionaire grunted, shifting on the couch to make himself more comfortable. "Why the hell was Loki using a microwave? Couldn't he just magick up some newts' eyes stew or lizards' tails- Whatever!"

Bruce sighed. "I think you forgot Loki is banned from using magic in the tower. Plus, you were the one who agreed wholeheartedly with the rule." He pointed out dryly and Tony frowned.

"Right," The man conceded after a moment of thought. "We'll need to do up a different set of rules now, if this is the way things are going to turn out. No stepping into the kitchen for Loki.  _Ever._ "

Bruce choked at Tony's words and quickly turned it into a cough, but Steve could still see the man's eyes twinkling in amusement after listening to what the billionaire had said.

"Moving on," Tony groused. "You  _knew_  that it was Loki's food and you gave it to me?" He complained, glaring at Steve. "Not cool Cap. I might have died from poisoning."

Steve thought the very idea of Tony dying from lasagna poisoning was ludicrous, and hilarious. However, out of respect of the pain his friend was now under and the undoubtedly bad mood he was surely in, the Captain decided to keep his thoughts to himself. He did allow himself a tiny smile though.

"Well, it makes me feel better at least," Tony continued grumpily, "knowing that Loki's target wasn't me in the first place. I'd be more careful if I were you Cap, I-" The man then stopped abruptly, and his face turned green. "Oh hell, damn! Gotta go!" He then staggered up from the couch and rushed out of the room hastily. Bruce and Steve were left behind, staring at their friend's hurried exit with a stunned silence. Finally, Bruce gave a tiny cough.

"Well..." He began awkwardly. "I guess I'd better go and check on him. Get him some meds." The scientist mumbled and Steve nodded. "Oh and by the way, Steve-" Bruce said suddenly as he rose from his seat. "-Tony has a point. Be careful around Loki." He gave Steve a solemn look and the Captain smiled, nodding once more to assure the man he would. Bruce returned the smile and turned to leave.

"Jarvis, does Tony keep any antibiotics in the tower?"

"I believe so, Doctor Banner. You will find some tucked away in one of the far corners of the kitchen cabinets."

"Well that's jolly..."

At the doorway, Bruce ran into Thor.

"Doctor Banner," Thor greeted amiably as he stood aside and allowed Bruce to pass.

"Hey Thor," Bruce smiled before leaving to find Tony some medications and Thor entered the large common room, grinning happily when he spotted the man he had been looking for.

"Captain!"

Steve gazed up in surprise at Thor's jovial greeting and gave a warm smile when he saw who it was. "Thor," he nodded and Thor grinned, taking the spot on the couch where Tony had been just minutes ago.

"Captain," the god started, "I have been looking for you, and Tony Stark's talking walls informed me that you were here." Steve had been about to correct Thor's referral to Jarvis as a talking wall when the AI spoke up first.

"You may call me Jarvis, Mr Odinson," Jarvis said coolly, sounding as affronted as it were possible for any AI to sound. "But if you wish, you may take a leaf from Sir's book and call me J. I do prefer the name Jarvis though, it sounds considerably classier."

Steve caught the nervous look in Thor's eyes as they flitted around the room warily in search of the source of the voice and bit back the urge to laugh. He couldn't blame the poor guy. Steve himself had been disorientated as well the first time when Jarvis spoke to him in the tower. After all, Tony Stark's technology was well advanced beyond what Steve knew, back in his time, and the Captain had to admit that even now, he still needed time to get used to the modern world and their electronics. Thor would be no different, especially considering the fact that the god came from a world without electronics.

"So Thor," Steve smiled when Thor jolted in surprise at the mention of his name. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Ah yes, Captain," Thor cast one last suspicious glance at the walls before continuing. "As I have said, I've been searching for you the entire morning-"  _Oh?_ Steve's brows furrowed slightly.  _Has something serious happened again?_ "-Although I have already said this before, I would like to express my thanks again for your help previously in convincing our team mates to give my brother a chance at redemption."

Steve blinked in surprise. "Think nothing of it Thor," The Captain started but Thor continued with his speech hurriedly.

"-It may not seem important to you Captain, but I assure you that your gesture meant a lot to me, and Loki as well." Thor said eagerly, and Steve could find no reply to the god's words other than an assuring smile. Somehow the Captain doubted that anything he did would 'meant a lot' to Loki. Then, Thor cleared his throat uncomfortably before continuing. "And now, as abrupt as it may seem, I wish to request another favour from you."

_Another favour?_

Steve straightened up a little at the sound of that. After all, something important must have cropped up for the Thunder god to seek Steve's help specially, and even though the Captain would always be ready to help a team mate, he couldn't help that sense of wariness tingling in his mind right now.

Thor caught the cautious look on his friend's face, and quickly continued. "It is not a difficult task Captain. With all the help you have given me in the past weeks, I would not wish to impose too much of a problem to you." The Thunder god said anxiously. Steve gave a somewhat sceptical smile. The man found it hard to believe that any task Thor had for him would be easy. After all, considering the past two weeks where all his agreements to help Thor out with various electrical appliances had ended up one way or another with disastrous results, a huge chaotic mess to clean up afterwards and Tony laughing hysterically by the side, Steve had completely revised his past definitions of the term 'difficult'.

However, Thor seemed at a loss of what to do next, and despite his own misgivings, Steve could not resist his inner urge to help a friend in need. He sighed. "Tell me about it."

Thor positively beamed at him. "Well you see Captain, it's about my brother-"  _Loki?_ "- Although he has kept out of his usual mischief these days, Loki has been unusually withdrawn. I believe that this is due to the hate and anger he still harbours against me, as well as his spite over the prior events. As such, even though Loki has not caused trouble, he has made no efforts to make amends to Midgard either. If this continues on, I fear that it will take ages before he will be able to let go of his hatred and truly redeem himself."

Steve nodded slowly after listening to Thor's words. It was true that Loki had been extremely quiet and almost non-existent in the Avengers Tower for the past two weeks. Other than answering a call by Director Fury to provide aid in the restoration work of one of the more problematic battle sites in the city where an entire building had collapsed within itself (which Loki cleared in forty seconds with a huff and a wave of his hand), the God of Mischief had hardly done anything that could be considered redemptive. Steve wasn't even sure how this whole Asgardian redemption process worked any way. He had heard that when Thor was banished, he had redeemed himself by sacrificing his life to save a small town. With the magnitude of Loki's crimes, who knows what the trickster would have to do in order to be considered truly redeemed. Steve could only hope that poisoning Tony with lasagna didn't add to the already huge amount of red on the god's ledger.

"As such, I feel that measures would have to be taken to get my brother to open up and work with the rest of our team, just as he was supposed to do." Thor continued grimly and Steve frowned. As much as the Captain would like Loki to turn over a new leaf and stick to his promises to do good, he has serious doubts about whether the trickster would truly be able to work together with the Avengers. After all. Loki had made it obvious that he still disliked them all immensely ( _no surprise there_ ), and the Avengers themselves were a huge hurdle to cross. Steve was touched by Thor's efforts to help his brother, but still, he couldn't help but feel that the god is fighting a losing battle.

The expression on Thor's face told Steve that the Thunder god was aware of all the misgivings the Captain had. "I had tried repeatedly to talk to my brother about this during the past weeks," Thor admitted dolefully. "But Loki still hates me, and constantly evaded all my attempts to get him to open up. Thus I was hoping that perhaps another one of the Avengers would take up the role of being the mediator and help my brother in his process of redemption." Thor finished and gave Steve a hopeful look.

"Wait, you mean-" Steve gaped for a moment at his friend. Surely Thor couldn't possibly be implying the same thing as what Steve thought his words meant, could he? The very idea was ridiculous, and regardless of how good Thor thought it was, it would surely never work.

"Yes Captain!" Thor continued hurriedly, seeing the worried look on Steve's face. "I know it is a huge favour to ask of you, but after much consideration, you would be the only one suitable for this role. Clint Barton still hates Loki for his past transgresses, and the Black Widow has a mutual distrust with my brother. Doctor Banner is a good man, but I fear that Loki's provocations may be even too much for him to take. And we all know how Tony Stark is," Thor gave an awkward little laugh that did nothing to lighten the atmosphere. Steve couldn't even force a smile at this. As much as he would like to help Thor, acting as the mediator for Loki and the other Avengers was too big of a mission for even Captain America... especially since the one you have been asked to help would sooner seem more eager rip your innards out than accept your offer.

"I don't think I can do this, Thor," Steve said at last. "I'm really sorry," he added after seeing Thor's disappointed face. "I mean, I would help if I could, but I'm sure Loki hates me as much as he hates you. I mean,-" Steve fidgeted uncomfortably a little as he thought of what had happened the day before. "I saw him in the kitchen yesterday, and the look he gave me was... well... um, not very nice. I don't know how to say this, but, I don't think I'll be able to help out much."

"I know what you mean Captain," Thor sighed, "but I would beg you to reconsider. My brother may be difficult to talk to at this point, but we cannot let him continue like this forever. I'm trying my hardest to help him, but even so, I won't be able to do so by myself. We need our team to accept him as well, or it would be near impossible for Loki to truly make amends for what he had done."

Steve remained silent as he pondered Thor's words. It was true, he guessed. Thor was right. Loki may have been given a second chance to redeem himself, but given his current state of relationship with the Avengers, it would be hard for them to even hold a civil conversation, not to mention save the world together on missions. What use would there be, to give Loki a second chance, and yet not trust him and isolate him during this second chance? Someone would have to take the first step to integrate him in, and if Loki was adamant on rejecting all of Thor's attempts, then Steve guessed he would have no choice but to take up the role next.

He  _was_  supposed to be the leader of the team.

_As arduous as the task may seem..._

The Captain sighed. "I will see what I can do..." He conceded at last, somewhat reluctantly. If this was not a 'difficult task', then Steve had no idea what the word 'difficult' means any more.

Thor grinned happily at his friend's answer. "Thank you Captain!" The god exclaimed and even with his doubts, Steve couldn't resist a smile at Thor's enthusiasm. It never ceased to amaze the Captain, that even after all Loki had done to him, Thor never gave up on his brother for a moment. Even after all the attempts Loki had made on his life, even after the trickster's betrayal, Thor continued believing in him. And this was something Steve found hard to understand. Were the brotherly ties that bound Thor to Loki really that strong?

"Thor," Steve said suddenly and Thor perked up at the Captain's words. "I... actually I have a question, and I hope you don't mind if I ask, but, why do you still believe in Loki? After all he had done? I mean, he has betrayed you, and tried to kill you so many times in the past. Wouldn't you... hate him too for that?" Steve finished uncertainly. Thor's face turned grave as he listened to his friend's words and the god kept quiet for a moment before answering.

"It is true what you have said, my friend." Thor said grimly as he gazed at Steve. "Loki had committed many grievous crimes, and I am indeed not as magnanimous as most of you might think. There were many times in the past where I've felt rage and hatred towards Loki for his betrayal and lies, and I am not afraid to admit that during those times, the idea of killing my brother in payback for his crimes has crossed my mind. However, after I have calmed down from those momentary bouts of anger, I cannot help but remember all the experiences I've had with Loki in the past: The times we spent together in our childhoods, playing and engaging in meaningless squabbles over toys; the times we fought together on the battle field in our youth, working as a team and looking out not only for our own lives, but the lives of each other."

Steve nodded slowly at his friend's words. He understood what Thor meant. Entirely. Hadn't he and Bucky gone through the same experiences in the past? Throughout their childhoods, they had been there for each other. They played together, they fought together, and even if they were not blood related in any way, they were closer than brothers. Regardless of whatever arguments they had, or any anger that arose due to disagreements, it was a tie that could never be broken.

Thor smiled sadly before continuing. "Perhaps it might seem silly to you, but even after that time Loki stabbed me with his dagger, I will still never forget his cry of shock and desperation many years ago when I had been impaled by an enemy's sword on the battlefield, nor will I forget the anxious words of assurance he had given me as he carried me on his back, half dead, in his rush to seek for medical assistance without a single thought spared for his own wounds. Regardless of what others may say of him, and regardless of what he had done, Loki will always be my brother, and I will always be his, even if he does not wish to admit it."

Steve smiled, touched by the sentiment. "You are a good brother." He assured Thor, but the god gave a bitter laugh that seemed to be more self-loathing than anything.

"I wasn't, in the past." Thor admitted unhappily. "Back then, I had been arrogant, and impulsive. There had been numerous times when I had hurt Loki with my words, made cruel jabs at him and laughed at him with our friends. I took my brother's friendship for granted and neglected his feelings. All of this hadn't seemed much back then, but now... now that I recall those moments, I can see for myself why my brother hates me, and I fear that it is too late for us." Thor finished forlornly and Steve remained silent, dumbfounded by the god's confession. It took him a while before he could think of what to say.

"Well, people change," The Captain said finally, and gave Thor a comforting look. "You've changed, and when Loki realises that, I'm sure he will too."

Thor smiled at his friend's assurance and nodded. "Thank you Steven."

After seeing that there was not much left to say, the god excused himself awkwardly and stood up, preparing to leave and let the Captain 'have his peace'. Steve gazed at Thor's leaving back for a moment before a sudden impulse rose in him.

"Thor!"

Thor stopped in his tracks and turned to face Steve with a questioning look. Steve smiled.

"Next time, just call me Steve."

Thor grinned. "Thank you Steve."

As Steve Rogers watched his friend leave the room, he thought back to the request the god had made once more.

_Help Loki integrate into the Avengers' lifestyle huh?_

Steve pulled out his sketchbook from behind him and gazed down at the drawing once more. The forbidding pair of eyes flashed dangerously at him, looking as though they might suddenly burst out of the page and swallow him up alive. Steve sighed. Somehow, he had an idea that this task isn't going to be easy.

_Oh Steve Rogers, just what have you gotten yourself into now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would like to apologise for the long wait. I actually had this chapter typed up a long time ago but because I wanted to add more to this chapter, I had delayed on posting it. I couldn't find the time to write up the later part though, so I am posting this first. That's why it seems more of a filler, and thus I apologise again. Next chapter won't be up too soon, because I have been caught up with the planning of a camp for my Uni's freshmen and being in charge of the Murder Investigation game, I had been hard at work thinking up a mystery plot, writing out the script and recruiting actors. (which is reason for all my story's delays) The camp will be over in two weeks, so updates may be more frequent then, but till then, please do not starve yourself of candy or cake while waiting. T.T
> 
> Another note: Phil survived Loki's attack in my story, so do not be confused with the mentions of him or if he pops up in future chapters.
> 
> This chapter is mainly about Steve. His interactions with Loki are supposed to happen next too, but I couldn't find the time to write it yet. I will as soon as I can, I promise. No worries, Loki will still continue being silly, and mischievous, and awesome!
> 
> Do tell me what you think about this chapter! I hope my chapters aren't getting too draggy with the thought processes. I plan to lighten things up in future chapters, after all, a good story can never be without humor, can it? ;)


	6. Branched Paths May Meet Again?

_Foolish mortal!_

Loki scowled as he lounged on his bed, recounting the events from yesterday evening.

It was a pure stroke of bad luck, he supposed, that for the first time in two weeks he decided to leave his room in the Avengers' Tower, he had to encounter the very Avenger he was most unwilling to meet. Thor, Loki could have easily ignored, considering how he had tons of prior experience in handling his annoying brother. Banner, Loki was wary about, but nonetheless sure that the man would not have bothered him if they met anyway. He knew that the scientist would be just as cautious around Loki as Loki was around him. Stark, well, the god actually  _had_  a few choice words that he would love to throw in the irritating man's direction. He would not have minded encountering him. Barton and Romanoff, Loki would still be able to handle at the very least.

But Rogers...

As much as the god wanted to deny it, the man still stirred up strange and conflicting emotions in him. And it was these emotions which made it hard for him to maintain a cold and calm exterior, regardless of how much he tried. One part of Loki hated Steve to the core, for forgetting him, for thwarting his plans and for being so god damned helpful when the man wasn't even needed in the first place. Hadn't Loki made it absolutely clear yesterday that he had needed no help what so ever? Why did the annoying mortal have to poke his nose into his business anyway? Loki wasn't going to be fooled into feeling grateful, touched, or extending his hand of friendship out to Steve. Not again. But yet, another part of his heart can't seem to forget about past memories and the friendship he once had with the man. It was a short one, for sure, but definitely a fond childhood memory the god had kept close to his heart. And now he hated it; he hated how weak and sentimental it made him feel.

Loki sighed and glared around his room. He was sick of this place. And more than anything else, he was bored.

Two weeks he had spent in this miserable little room. Two whole weeks. It was enough to drive anyone crazy, and snappish. It wasn't that Loki was afraid to leave the room, he could have, but there were just too many things for him to think through and people he'd _love_ to avoid. Loki wanted his own space, and it didn't help that in the tower there were some who stubbornly refused to give him that space, such as that annoying Thor and Steven Rogers. So Loki had no other choice but to coop himself up in here, curse at Odin, think bitter thoughts, make plans for his own future and curse at Odin some more. On a brighter note, this particular guest room was now as neat as a pin and in a much better condition than when Loki had moved in, considering how the god had absolutely nothing else to do during his stay.

The god wasn't in the mood to do any tidying now, however. He was bored, and he was moody, thanks to yesterday's encounter, and now Loki was itching to lash out at someone.

_Where is Thor with my evening meal anyway?_

Loki's face contorted into another ugly scowl.

_The buffoon is late!_

He stretched lazily and got off the bed, noting with displeasure at how it creaked slightly under the displacement of his weight ( _inferior mortal workmanship_ ) and started pacing around the room impatiently. It only made matters worse that the god was now feeling a slight pang of hunger, plus the fact that he was still reluctant to leave the refuge of his room after his experience the day before. Loki was now hungry, and bored, and when he felt this way one of the little pleasures he indulged in was to nitpick about every single thing in his line of sight, such as the dishes Thor would bring him later.

Loki smirked at the idea. Yes, seeing Thor's kicked puppy face always gave him a strange sense of satisfaction somehow. One of the few bright spots during his stay in the tower, he daresay.

_But Thor isn't even here yet..._

Loki gave another impatient huff as he took a few more slow steps along the length of his bed and frowned. It isn't like his not-brother to be so late with the delivery of his meals. Perhaps he was caught up in a mission from Fury? Or had he gotten himself into trouble again? Loki's brows furrowed as he contemplated these possibilities. Then, there was a sudden sinking feeling in the god's heart as another possibility popped up in his mind.

_Or perhaps Thor had given up on you too._

Loki scowled, dismissing the worthless thought to the back of his mind. As if that would happen; Loki knew Thor well enough. The idiot had such a foolish amount of sentiment that it wasn't possible for him to give up on his precious 'brother' any time soon. He wouldn't.

But still, there was that little bit of doubt...

The god shook his head in frustration. He needed a slight distraction, perhaps for the few minutes that Thor would take to hurry upstairs with his tray of food. Without a second thought, Loki turned and headed into the bathroom. Perhaps he could find something inside to busy himself with for a while; another one of those mortal contraptions. After all, in his boredom during the past two weeks, Loki had managed to find some entertainment not only by making snide remarks at Thor, but also with trying to figure out some of the strange Midgardian devices that were lying around his room. In fact, the god had made pretty good progress, if he would say so himself.

At least Loki was now able to pinpoint the functions of some of the numerous household appliances he found lying around in the space of his room. Computers and communicative technology, Loki had made an effort to get a firm grasp on even before his attempted invasion of Midgard to better facilitate his plans. However, common household appliances were a totally different story altogether. As much as Loki would like to deny it, when he first arrived in the tower, the many strange and alien mortal contraptions had confused him. The god had also been stunned by the phenomena which Thor had referred to as 'Tony Stark's Talking Walls', only to learn later, out of curiosity and direct confrontation with the 'Talking Walls' themselves, that the voice actually belonged to an AI by the name of Jarvis which Tony Stark had created. As usual, Thor was making a fool of himself. That idiot.

And thus, Loki had made it a personal mission without Thor's help ( _or rather, hindrance_ ) to learn about the numerous mortal contraptions he came upon. It may be a mundane task, and probably useless, given the primitive knowledge of the mortals, but the god supposed that there was still this possibility, regardless of how tiny, that all knowledge he learnt on Midgard may help him in the future one way or another. Besides, it served to satisfy his unending curiosity pretty well.

Loki's eyes swept across the clean, polished bathroom, searching for any item which might pique his interest. The shower head and bathtub, their functions Loki had already deduced. It was pretty much obvious, and frankly, the god would consider it an insult to his intelligence if he took more than a minute to decipher the uses behind these two appliances. The numerous bottled soaps and conditioners, Loki had also already investigated, and tested. In fact, as much as he hated to admit it, he found himself particularly fond of one type of lavender scented body soap. He found it soothing to his nerves. The tiny stick with a bristly brush at its end on the transparent glass basin, Loki had cleverly deduced that mortals used it to clean their teeth from the tube of minty white paste placed next to it labelled 'Toothpaste'. The god had tried it out too, out of curiosity, and found himself strongly preferring the use of magic for this function instead. And there's that black shiny electronic with a funnel-like end. That... well  _that_ , Loki had actually not yet been able to comprehend.

The god strode over to the curious black electronic and carefully lifted it from the hook it was hung on. Fingers gliding lightly over the smooth surface of the appliance, Loki turned it around in an effort to figure out its workings once more. He already knew what it was supposed to be used for, the words 'Hairdryer' in an elegant tiny print at the side of the item's handle told him that much. However, what he had not been able to understand is how mortals use this strange contraption to dry their hair. Something was supposed to exit from the funnel like end of the Hairdryer, Loki knew that, perhaps a wind or heat of some sort, but the god had not been successful in making that happen. He had tried all he knew when it came confronting Midgardian technology, fiddling with the switch on the Hairdryer, and even slapping it hard against the palm of his hand, which Thor had claimed would work wonders for Midgardian technology, but to no avail.

Of course he should have known better than to take Thor's advice.

_Now_ , however, Loki had obtained a new piece of information regarding the tiresome technology of Midgard, given to him by the one foe he had the least desire to encounter. And it was a handy little fact that the god grudgingly admit he had always overlooked. Loki's eyes trailed along the length of the black wire attached to the end of the Hairdryer and found, with realisation, a metallic plug not unlike that of the microwave dangling at the end of the wire.

_So that's why..._

Quickly, the trickster's sharp eyes scanned across the bathroom walls and soon enough, spotted a power-point hidden inconspicuously at a corner. With a smug grin, Loki plugged the Hairdryer firmly in and gazed down at the electronic triumphantly once more.

_Now that was easy. Did Steven really think that I would not be able to handle his kind's contraptions?_

Loki gave a smirk, and fingered the switch on the Hairdryer once more. This time, for sure, he would get to the bottom of the workings behind this mortal electronic and if he was really to be honest, Loki was rather curious about what it would do to his hair.

XXX

"Loki? Hey, you in there?"

Steve's polite knocks on the door received yet another moment of silence as a reply and the super soldier sighed.

_Looks like this is not working..._

He stared down at the tray he was holding, stacked with all the dishes Thor had confidently claimed his brother loved and once again, heaved another sigh.

As the first step of extending his hand of friendship out to the deviant Norse god, Steve had decided, with the persistent urging of Thor, that he would be the one to bring Loki's evening meal up to him that day. It was a good move, Thor had said, as a way to slowly allow Loki to grow used to the presence of the other Avengers besides Thor himself, as well as to open up new topics of conversation between his brother and his friends. The Thunder god had noted keenly that Loki was the most vocal when it came to matters of his food nowadays. It was a good move, Thor told Steve, but whether it was a  _smart_ move, well, Steve decided to be the judge of that himself.

And now, after standing awkwardly in the corridor for the past five minutes, balancing a food laden tray and receiving nothing but dead silence as he tried to get Loki to answer his door, the Captain had decided that maybe this wasn't such a good  _or_ smart move after all.

_Perhaps I should just leave the food outside for him to pick up later._ Steve frowned thoughtfully with his hand raised in another half-knock.  _But then that would defeat the purpose of me doing this..._

Just as Steve was carefully pondering about what to do next, a sudden pained cry from within the room jolted him out of his thoughts.

_Loki!_

"Hey! You alright in there?!" Steve yelled anxiously. Still no answer.

Without another word, the Captain slammed forcefully into the heavy wooden door, busting it open and rushed into the room, not giving a care of the food and juice that spilled from the side of the tray he carried.

"Loki?"

The room was empty, as far as he could see. Steve gritted his teeth and headed straight into the bathroom, where... he found Loki hissing and glaring daggers at a half-smashed hair dryer on the floor?

_What?_

Steve's jaw dropped in surprise, and while he was standing there, speechless and gaping at the scene, Loki suddenly noticed his presence and spun around, his already enraged expression contorting into something even uglier when he recognised the intruder in his room.

"What are _you_  doing here?!" The god spat viciously to Steve, who was still too stunned to give an answer. There was a moment's silence, with the exception of the faint whirring sounds of the hairdryer, which was still emitting weak amounts of heat from its half broken muzzle, and Steve tried his best to reorganise his thoughts about the whole bizarre incident to give a coherent answer under the pressure of Loki's glare. However, both his mind and tongue failed him and for the next few seconds, Steve could do nothing but stare back blankly at the god. It was then that he suddenly noticed an angry red welt on the god's right cheek.

_A burn?_

Loki clicked his tongue in impatience at his foe's silence. "What are you doing here?" He repeated, considerably calmer and eyes flashing even more dangerously than before.

Steve managed to swallow his shock. "Umm, I brought food?" The Captain said uncertainly and shot an instinctive glance down at the tray he was carrying. "Oh."

Loki's gaze followed Steve's and swept across the remains of his evening meal, or what was left of it, giving an unimpressed snort as he did so. Steve, on his part, gave an embarrassed cough and awkwardly wiped the remains of Loki's orange juice off his arm.

"So, what happened?" He ventured to ask, ignoring the vicious look Loki gave him. "Why-?" His gaze then swept to the half smashed hair dryer and in an instant, the connection between it and the angry burn on Loki's face clicked.

"What happened?" Loki echoed dangerously, and Steve could not help feeling a chill run down his spine. "What happened?" The god's angry gaze flicked from the man to the feebly whirring hair dryer. " _That_  infernal mortal device burned me! What the Hel is that?"

Steve blinked in surprise. It wasn't that he hadn't already arrived at that conclusion before Loki said it, but still, actually hearing it in words from the god's own mouth had a startling effect. Loki, a supposedly powerful Norse God in the legends, burned by... a hair dryer?

Steve set down the messy tray of food he was holding on the nearest counter surface and walked over to pick up the hairdryer. He flinched when a few sparks of electricity flew out from its shattered muzzle and gingerly switched it off, observing it for a moment before turning back to Loki.

"Well?" The god demanded testily and Steve bit his lip for a moment, trying to figure out what to say without provoking the god any further.

" _Well_ , it seems like an ordinary hair dryer." He said at last and frowned when Loki rolled his eyes with a 'duh'. "I mean, it's strange, hair dryers can leave burns on people if they're switched at maximum heat and held in close contact to the skin but the burns usually aren't serious-" Steve was interrupted by a angry growl from Loki and his eyes trailed over to the painful red welt on the god's cheeks once more. He winced. "- Okay, so maybe you're an exception."

With another irritated hiss, Loki stormed out of the bathroom, shoving Steve roughly out of the way as he did so.

"Hey!" Steve glared after the god's back, longing to give him tongue lashing for the unwarranted rudeness but decided otherwise, knowing that it would do no good to their already soured ties. Instead he followed Loki out of the bathroom, and found the god standing there next to his bed with his back turned to Steve.

"I would suggest you leave my personal chambers immediately." Loki said coldly and Steve bit his lip to resist shooting a retort that was already at the tip of his tongue.

_Did you think I wanted to be here?_

"Do you need any burn ointments? I could get you one," Steve's initial forced friendly tone changed into one of concern when he remembered the raw, angry burn on the god's cheek. "That burn on your face looks really-"

"I said: Leave." Loki hissed, and a few seconds of silence hung in the air as Steve stared at his back quietly before turning to exit the room.

XXX

Hearing the heavy footsteps of his nemesis as he left the room, Loki spun around just in time to see Steve's back vanishing from sight at the door frame.

_Good riddance._

Loki scowled. Why was Steven the one bringing him his meal in the first place? His gaze flicked over to the tray of food still left in the bathroom and he gave another sceptical snort.

_Thor! Of course, I should have known that the buffoon is behind this!_

Must be too lazy to send Loki his food after all this while, the god thought sourly as he glared at the messed up tray, and he'd thought he would get his team mates to help in the  _chore_. Just like how he would always push the tasks he deemed unpleasant or boring to Loki in the times of their youth. Typical. Loki's scowl deepened at the thought. So Thor had thought him a hindrance after all. Why wasn't he surprised?

Then suddenly, another thought entered his mind.

_Or maybe, Thor is trying to get you to interact more with the Avengers..._

Loki jolted at the idea. Now that he thought about this, Steven Rogers did seem suspiciously nice to him earlier. Not that the Captain wasn't already adept at poking his nose into matters that did not concern him, but still...

_And of all the people Thor could have chosen to do this job..._

A bitter laugh escaped from Loki's throat. How foolish of Thor, to think that Loki would be tricked into extending his friendship to any of the Avengers, much less Steven Rogers. Regardless of what they said or did, the god would never be fooled into letting his guard down around them. Especially to Steve. Not him.

Loki thought back to what had happened just minutes ago and gave a cynical smile. Surely, after this incident, Steven Rogers would think twice before approaching him again. The man must hate him now too, wouldn't he? After how Loki had acted so hostilely to him all this time? Didn't he just leave without a word earlier, too affronted to continue his pretence of friendship any longer?

Loki sank down heavily onto his bed, that familiar hollow feeling growing within his chest once more. This should no longer be of any surprise to him. People leaving him, one by one. Loki is used to it, to being a loner. He didn't need others around him, pretending to care or showering him with fake affection. He didn't need brothers who weren't brothers, or friends who were no longer friends.

_I don't need them. They are a weakness I-_

Footsteps echoed along the corridor once more, approaching the room and Loki looked up, wary of who the next intruder would be. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Steve Rogers, once again entering his room as though he  _belonged_  here.

Seeing the stunned look Loki gave him, Steve halted in his steps towards the god and gave a tiny cough. The man then held out something which Loki realised to be a small tube of ointment.

"This is the best burn ointment I could find." Steve explained cautiously as he observed Loki, as though fearing that he might snap at him at any moment. "Wouldn't do to leave your wound unattended, you know?" The man's gaze flicked once more to the burn on Loki's face and for once, the god found himself at a loss for words.

_What the Hel is this mortal thinking?_

Seeing that Loki was not prepared to do anything except gape at him, Steve cleared his throat uncertainly.

"Well, umm..." The Captain unscrewed the cap of the tube gingerly and squeezed some of the ointment from the tube onto his finger. "It's supposed to be good for burns." He explained, stepping towards Loki carefully. Before Loki could scowl or say anything, Steve quickly ( _and clumsily_ ) dabbed the light yellow paste on Loki's wound, causing him to recoil back in shock at this unexpected bit of contact.

_Did the human just-?_

"Yeah," Steve continued uneasily, seeing the god's reaction. "You apply this medicine like that. It will help." He added assuringly. After hearing Steve's words, Loki stunned gaze turned into one of disbelief.

_The fool thinks I do not know how to apply ointment!_

Steve must have spotted the affronted look on Loki's face at this point of time, because he hurriedly stepped back, pausing only for a moment to leave the tube on the bed side table. "Okay so I'll just leave this here," he said, face flustered. "And... leave you alone."

Loki watched as Steve made an anxious retreat from the room and took a few seconds to snap out of his confusion.

_Did Steven really just... apply ointment for me?_

Loki's eyes flicked over to the tube of medicine on the bedside table again and this time, he couldn't help it, an uncontrollable chuckle of amusement escaped his lips. The god reached out for the tube and inspected it, unable to resist a grin from stretching across his face. This is just too unbelievable, and not to mention ridiculous.

_Surely this must be a joke. he should know that I have no need for this, not with my healing rate and magic._

_Or maybe he didn't. Perhaps he was genuinely concerned?_

The grin on Loki's face was replaced with a frown as he pondered this new possibility. Could it be that Steve was really worried for his wounds? But why would he? Loki is not his friend, in fact, contrary to that, he was his enemy. Steve had no reason to show him concern. He had nothing to gain.

_But Steven always had a bad habit of extending his help to those around him, even when he's not needed. Even at his own costs. Just like that time in our youth..._

The god stared down quietly at the tube, and felt another surge of emotion rise within him again. He scowled.

Always with the sentiment. Why is Steve always stirring up these emotions within him? What did he hope to achieve with this? A friendship?

_No, he is Thor's friend now, not mine. He will never-_

Loki's grip around the tube of ointment tightened and he closed his eyes in frustration. He can't falter again to his emotions; it would be an unwise move, and incredibly stupid too. But still, the god knew that the way things were heading in will not work out in the long run. Having to serve the All Father's sentence now, there was no way that Loki will be able to escape or regain Odin's trust again without help. Loki's eyes opened once more and he glared down at the bejewelled armlet on his wrist. If he wanted to be able to break free of this prison, he would need help, and who better to gain help from than those with too much sentiment to spare; those who believed to be his friends.

Loki smirked as he considered this idea thoughtfully. Besides, there was still a threat to his safety out there. There was still  _Him._

_If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you._

A pair of glinting red eyes flashed in Loki's mind once more and he flinched at the memory. Yes, he would need a safe refuge; protection from this being who would be after his blood.

Loki needed the Avengers.

XXX

Steve took a long swig out of his bottle of water and leant against the kitchen counter, his mind reluctantly wandering back to the awkward incident yesterday. Images of him dabbing the ointment on Loki's cheek replayed in Steve's mind and he took another hurried swig of water, feeling the heat rise in his neck. Why had he done that? Hell, that was just plain weird!

_So much for Thor's 'good move'..._

Steve closed his eyes in exasperation and sucked in a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. After the events of yesterday, he was sure that all plans Thor had for integrating Loki into the group would have backfired. Terribly too.

A low curse escaped Steve's lips. What was he thinking? Treating Loki as though he was a child, applying medicine for him! Surely the god must have been as appalled as Steve had been when he realised what he had done. And Steve had no idea why he did that either... Loki was a full grown adult- no, he was a full grown god- and there was no reason at all for Steve to dab ointment on his face as though he was a tiny child.

_But he did seem strangely like a kid yesterday, giving me with that wide-eyed and dazed look..._

Steve sighed. The damage has been done, he supposed, and now he would have to find a way to break it softly and carefully to Thor that he may have somehow accidentally made Loki even angrier with them because he treated him like a kid who couldn't even apply his own medicine. Hopefully Thor doesn't break his nose after he knew. The man felt a flush of embarrassment heating up his face once more.

_Oh god...What do I do now?_

"I would like to request for your assistance, Captain."

A familiar voice broke Steve's train of thoughts and he spun around, only to gawk at the person- no, god- standing before him.

"Loki?"

Loki's brows lifted sceptically at the surprised look on the Captain's face and there was a moment of silence before the god spoke up again, this time sounding a tad more impatient. "I was hoping that you would be able to help me with something, but if you are busy, then I can always ask someone else."

"Huh? No, I mean, I'm not busy or anything." Steve startled out of his shock and struggled to compose himself. After blinking and confirming that the one who approached him was indeed Loki, the Captain then noticed with another jolt of surprise that the burn wound on Loki's face had, well, vanished. "Your burn?" Steve asked, unable to contain his curiosity and Loki appeared surprised by the question before dismissing it with a casual wave of his hand.

"My healing rate is higher than an ordinary human's."

"Oh. Right, that." Steve bit his lip once more at the reminder of how embarrassingly redundant his actions yesterday were. And to think that-

"But thank you, all the same, for the ointment." Loki continued coolly and Steve stared back at the god in disbelief. Did... did Loki just thank him?

_Now, that was... unexpected._

"Right, you're welcome." He replied uncertainly and Loki gave him a smile that was both smooth and sincere.  _Too_ smooth and sincere for Steve's tastes. The sudden change in the god was unnerving.

Seeing that Steve wasn't about to continue the conversation, Loki cleared his throat impatiently. "As I've said, I hope you could help me out. I've seen Thor laughing at some colourful ponies on a black screen in the main hall during one of my trips to the kitchens, and I am curious about its properties."

"B-black screen? Main hall?" Steve shot Loki a puzzled look for a second before apprehension dawned on him. "You mean the television?"

Loki gave a tiny snort. "Whatever you mortals call it."

Steve gave a tiny chuckle, choosing to ignore the somewhat-derisive remark. "Yeah, I guess I could help you with that." He smiled and Loki seemed satisfied with his answer. The god turned and exited the kitchen promptly, leaving Steve staring after him with a mix of amusement and exasperation. The Captain then grabbed his half-finished drink and followed Loki to the living room, only to find him already seated right smack in the middle of the circular couch, waiting regally for Steve's arrival.

It would have been intimidating to be honest, to be in the same room with someone who had attempted to kill you just months ago and now acted as though he owned the place. However, with the memories of the past two days in his mind, Steve simply found the scene hilarious, and not to mention a tad absurd.

He bit back a grin. "So, where do you want to start?" He asked politely and Loki gave him an unimpressed look.

"From the basics perhaps, Captain?" Loki drawled as he leant back haughtily into the couch, crossing his legs as he did so. Steve's brows furrowed at the god's words. He most certainly had not missed the snide undertone in Loki's voice.

_Basics, of a television? Wow, way to be vague!_

"Well if that's the case," Steve frowned, "then I guess we-"

"And the black screen's plugged in, if that's what you were about to say." Loki interrupted him lackadaisically. "I checked."

Steve shot the god a reproachful look. "I wasn't about to say that." The man retorted. "I thought it would've been common sense."

Loki bristled a little at the jab, but other than giving Steve a glare, made no other attempts at arguing back. Given the god's character, Steve took this as a sign of peace making.

"Right, well, if we were to start from the basics," the Captain continued, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "Then I guess it'll be about how to operate the TV-"

"TV?" Loki interrupted him once more with a confused frown.

"That's an abbreviation, or shorter name to refer to the television." Steve explained patiently.

The puzzled look on Loki's face cleared. "Ah, I see." The god said, without as much as a smile on his face. "It does seem as though you mortals have a habit of shortening the names you use to refer to your possessions, or even your people. Is this simply for convenience's sakes, or is it a sign of innate laziness, you think?"

Steve frowned at the question directed to him. Loki had asked it in a serious tone, and the Captain understood that the question was one asked out of curiosity, not for insult, but still...

"Well, it does conserve energy, I guess." Steve replied as a shot at good humour, but to no avail when the god gave no other reaction except a slight raise of his eyebrows and a soft 'hmm'. The uncomfortable atmosphere in the room grew even heavier and Steve couldn't help it, he fidgeted a little. After all, Steve had always been, as Tony diagnosed, a socially awkward penguin, and even the super soldier serum couldn't help him when it came to issues of awkward social scenarios, especially ones which involved seemingly humourless ex-super villains.

Steve gave a tiny cough, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Okay, so, to operate the TV, we need to use the remote." He picked up the remote controller lying carelessly on the tea table before the couch and showed it to Loki, who gazed at the item with a slight tilt of his head.

"Remote." The god repeated with interest.

"Yeah the remote controller," Steve backtracked when he realised that he had once again, out of habit, skipped the use of a full term. However, Loki didn't seem to notice, or if he had, made no show of it as he merely nodded and waited for the Captain to continue.

"This is the button to switch it on." Steve said matter-of-factly, showing Loki the red square button at the top left corner of the remote controller and pressed it to demonstrate. Tony Stark's beloved 55 inch flat screen 3D television came on in a second, and a commentator's loud excited voice blared throughout the room. Steve winced at the noise and hastily lowered the volume before shooting Loki an anxious glance. However, much to his surprise, the god seemed too enthralled by the program being shown on the television to be irritated, staring intently at the screen and only allowing a mild frown of confusion tugging at his lips to betray any sign of emotion.

Steve paused for a moment before hesitantly lowering himself onto a spot of the couch a safe six inches away from Loki. After seeing that the god wasn't about to say or do anything, Steve turned his gaze back to the screen and realised that the program being shown was an episode of American Ninja Warriors, a show Tony and Clint loved to guffaw at and Thor was enthusiastic about. He winced involuntarily when a male contestant ran smack into a moving block and plunged headfirst into the water below. Beside him, Loki made some indecipherable noise which could only be that of contempt.

"This wasn't what was on the screen when Thor was grinning like an idiot at it a few days ago." Loki said finally, after a few more contestants had earned his snorts of disdain. "I distinctly remember that there were colourful animated ponies that appeared relatively more intellectual than this." He added with a tone of accusation in his voice and Steve was stumped for a moment, wondering what on Earth the god was talking about. Then, it suddenly clicked.

"Oh! You mean that cartoon Tony showed Thor last week!" Steve exclaimed and Loki's frown deepened.

"Cartoon?" He repeated sceptically and Steve gave him an apologetic smile.

"It's a kid's show," He clarified, and grinned when the look of bewilderment on Loki's face turned into one of surprise. "Called 'My Pretty Ponies', or something like that." Steve brows furrowed as he attempted to recall the correct name for the cartoon, but Loki didn't seem to care in the least about what it was called.

"So Thor was watching a show for children?" He asked, with a tinge of amusement in his voice. Steve then heard a soft snort from the god, which he could have sworn sounded suspiciously like "Figures".

"You yourself said that the show seemed intellectual just moments ago," Steve countered, indignant over Loki's attacks on Thor's inteilligence and Loki simply gave a derisive laugh.

"I stated that it was  _comparatively_  more intellectual," Loki scoffed, giving Steve a haughty look as he did so. "And I'm right, am I not?" He continued, gazing back to the screen, where a woman was now screaming as she tumbled ungracefully into the water. "At least the ponies don't go about screaming and flailing into the water like chickens."

"That's different," Steve argued, shooting Loki an annoyed look. "This is an obstacle course. People are doing this to test their athletic abilities and agility. At least give them some respect for their effort. They are doing their best out there!" He finished with a reproachful glare at Loki, who did not seem convinced. At this very moment, the plump male contestant on TV attempted a standing broad jump from a large wooden plank and instead of landing successfully on the other side, end up slamming face-first into the inflated balloon wall just inches next to the plank. Steve closed his eyes in embarrassment as the man fell into the water with a somersault and heard Loki chuckling beside him.

"Well at least he tried!" Steve snapped in irritation as Loki gave him a smug grin.

"Perhaps," Loki replied smoothly, his tone amused and placating. "And maybe you can also consider it a blessing, Captain," he added, seeing the scowl on Steve's face, "that your people do not seem to mind humiliating themselves in public."

Steve's face flushed at this sentence and he turned away from the smirking god, thoroughly annoyed. He gazed back at the screen, where another female contestant was now prepping herself excitedly for the course.

In all honesty, the Captain himself did not understand how people could stand putting themselves through all this nonsense just for a cash prize at the end, but still, hearing Loki's snide words about them made him uneasy, and indignant.

_People nowadays..._

"Alright, since this isn't intellectual enough for a god," Steve said wryly, noting with a grim satisfaction that the grin on Loki's face changed into a scowl at his words. "Let's change the channel." Steve picked up the remote and pressed a button without another word, and the screen immediately switched from showing the female contestant in a ( _about to fail_ ) half leap to a few lions running across the grassy African plains.

Steve placed the remote carefully next to him on the couch and sat back casually, observing how Loki seemed once again perplexed by the documentary shown on the screen. He seems different today, Steve thought silently, his gaze trailing along the creases of puzzlement on the god's usually smooth forehead and the rare look of innocent curiosity in his deep green eyes. So different. The absence of hostility and rage in Loki actually made him seem somewhat amiable, and although Steve knew that the God of Mischief could be a dangerously slippery enemy even when he was not hissing in spite and hatred, he felt a sudden unexplainable sense of ease seep into him at the moment. One that somehow made him comfortable to just sit there and chat with Loki without feeling a sense of forced obligation.

"How did you do that?" Loki asked suddenly, breaking the relaxed silence in the room. He turned towards Steve and it was then that the two's eyes met once more, both equally surprised when it happened.

Steve stared at the god blankly for a moment before blinking and snapping out of his stupor, turning away hastily. He gave a tiny awkward cough, feeling a sudden heat rising up his neck once more. Loki continued gazing at the embarrassed man for another second, confused by the situation.

_Was he... actually staring at me?_

The god opened his mouth, as though about to ask Steve about what had just happened, but suddenly thought the better of it and closed it again, biting his lip contemplatively. Then, after letting the awkward silence linger unbearably in the room for a few more seconds, Loki finally cleared his throat and spoke up once more.

"The television, Captain." He stated, his cool voice cutting across the room. Steve startled for a moment before turning back to him with a questioning look. "How did you change the events happening on the screen?" Loki continued, and Steve frowned in confusion at his question before understanding what the god was trying to ask.

"You mean changing the channels?" Steve asked and Loki made an impatient hand gesture which he took as a sign of affirmation. "You can change the channels, or shows on the TV by pressing these buttons on the remote." Steve indicated as he showed the relevant buttons to the god. "Different channels have different programs."

Loki didn't seem impressed by the explanation. "But how does it work?" He demanded. "How do the buttons on this remote control which programs are shown on the screen. There must be more intricate workings behind your Midgardian technology, is there not?"

Steve was totally stumped. He had never placed much thought into this before, even back in his time when they had the old black and white televisions. He distinctly remembered Clint and a suspiciously helpful Tony trying to explain to Thor the details behind a television's machinery and workings weeks ago. It took a long time, but after a lengthy heated debate about the names of television components which Steve now remembered nothing about and the proper definition of speaking English, Pepper, who was watching exasperatedly by the side finally stepped in and kindly told the poor befuddled Thunder God that all he needed to know were the basics and how a television is to be operated. Leave the technological jargon to the tech maniacs, were her exact words then.

It did not seem that way now.

"Well, I'm not too sure about that myself," Steve admitted with a sheepish glance at Loki. "But I think-" After a short and jumbled up explanation about satellite stations which made no sense even to Steve himself, Loki seemed even more confused and cynical than ever. Steve made a mental promise that he will consult either Bruce or Tony, preferably Bruce, on this matter later and gave Loki an apologetic grin. "That's really all I know about this."

"Mmhmm." Loki gave a soft resigned sigh and turned his attention from Steve to the remote instead. "And this can change the channels?" He asked curiously and Steve nodded. Seeing the god's questioning expression, Steve picked up the electronic and offered it amiably to him.

"Why don't you try it?" He smiled at the look of surprise he received and handed the remote to Loki, not missing the pleased shine in the god's eyes. Loki took the remote, pressed a random button and almost immediately, a cheerful, catchy tune sung out from the television as the documentary on wildlife changed to yet another documentary, one that the Captain was not exactly eager to see.

"Who's strong and brave, here to save the American Way?

Who vows to fight like a man for what's right night and day?

Who will campaign door-to-door for America,

Carry the flag shore to shore for America,

From Hoboken to Spokane,

The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!-"

"That's you..." Loki gaped at the screen with incredulity as Captain America stepped out from the middle of the dancing chorus girls and addressed the audience. "You are... you are on the screen?" He turned questioningly to Steve just as the girls erupted into another round of the chorus and soon realised that the man beside him was now as red as a beetroot. Loki only needed to take one look at the flushed, embarrassed face of the Captain before he burst out in a fit of amused laughter, earning him a glare from the man.

"Glad you found it funny. Can you please change the channel now?" Steve asked irritably but Loki simply continued smirking at him, eyes gleaming with mirth.

"I don't see why I should," the god said teasingly, much to Steve's annoyance. "I like this show. Nice outfit by the way." He added with another wicked grin. "It's considerably more pleasing to the eyes than the one you have now."

"Well at least I don't look like a cow." Steve retorted, but Loki seemed too gleeful to take any offense with his insult. After the god turned back to the screen with a wide grin, Steve gave a huff of indignation and sank back resignedly into the couch.

_This is humiliating..._

"Captain America, the world's first superhero-" A male narrator's voice came on and Steve and Loki watched as the television started playing some old black and white films of the Captain in action during the war. "Brave, righteous, strong; the one bright ray of hope for America in the dark times of war with the Nazis-" The narrator continued, and Steve sighed as he watched himself use his first prop shield to block some fake bullets and beckon for his 'soldiers' to follow him.

_I can't believe they still kept this footage..._

"How did you appear on the screen?" Loki asked suddenly, his gaze still fixed on the moving figure of Steve on the TV. Steve gave a tiny self-conscious cough as he too, continued keeping his eyes on the screen, unwilling to make any eye contact with his companion.

"These are some old films of mine," he explained slowly. "You know, back in those days where we had the war with the Nazis and Hydra. They figured America needed a morale boost. It's pretty lame actually." He admitted with an embarrassed smile, but Loki gave no reply to his quip.

"Faster than an ordinary man! Stronger than dozens! A heart of virtue and courage! That's our Captain! -"

"And they are showing it even till now?"

Steve caught a sudden difference in the tone of Loki's voice then, and as he turned, realised that the look of amusement on the god's face from earlier had faded, and was now replaced with an expressionless stare, nearly vacant with the exception of what seemed to be sorrow –  _or was it envy?_  – in his eyes.

"And with the events happening in current days, the invasion of New York from a foreign enemy, our Captain is here to save the day again! And this time, he is here to stay!"

"Yeah well, I suppose- I guess so," Steve stumbled over words in his haste to lighten the atmosphere. "I mean, I was a notable war figure in the past-"

"You mean you are a hero."

Steve stared at Loki dumbfounded, at a loss of what to say next to the god. That sentence sounded strange, it sounded somehow, bitter...

Then, without further warning, Loki suddenly stood up and turned to face him, his face forced into an expression of indifference and eyes cold and distant, no longer possessing the warm and mischievous twinkle they had just minutes ago.

"I feel tired now, and would like to retire back to my chambers." He stated coolly and Steve gaped at the sudden change in attitude.

"But-"

"Thank you for your assistance, Captain."

Without another word, Loki turned and swept out of the room swiftly without as much of a backward glance, ignoring the stunned calls of the Captain and the droning of the show's narrator in the background. When he reached his own room, the door slammed behind him and locked itself magically, and Loki sank down on his bed, glaring at his own reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall.

_It had been going so smoothly. Everything had been going along smoothly. But why?_

Loki's plans had been coming along well. The Captain had warmed up to him considerably during their conversation earlier, Loki could feel it. Steven Rogers always had a soft streak in him, and that would be easy for the god to exploit; for him to slowly get Steve on his side. If it had worked, Loki was sure that in the long run he would be able to gain the trust of most, if not all of the Avengers through their Captain. He just had to play his cards right.

And he had been doing it well, so well... until that accursed show came on.

_Why? Why can't I just smile through it all? Just smile and act like I always do? It's not like it mattered anymore. It should be clear from the start..._

Clear. Loki's fists tightened and as he gazed at himself in the mirror, he saw for himself clearly the hate and fury burning in his eyes. A bitter, strangled laugh left his throat.

It should have been clear indeed! Clear from the very start, since they had met again... The paths between him and Steven had already branched far apart from each other, and regardless of how much Loki tried to pull them closer, he would never be able to wipe out the fact that Steve was a celebrated hero, a success story, while Loki was a failure.

XXX

As Steve made his way down to Tony's lab, his mind was a swirl of conflicting thoughts and worries.

It had all seemed to be going smoothly that evening, with Loki suddenly requesting for Steve's help out of the blue and actually interacting with the Captain somewhat amiably – or rather, non-hostilely – for a short while. It was a surprise, for sure, and a rather pleasant one for Steve at that. For the first time in the past two days, Thor's request for Steve Rogers to help his brother actually seemed  _not as hopeless_  as he had initially imagined it to be.

Steve had been eager, well not  _exactly_ eager, but he was making an effort at the very least to show Loki that he was sincere in actually being the wayward god's friend. They had a little chat about the workings of the television, Steve made a couple of friendly attempts at jokes,  _and_ they had a rather awkward discussion about Steve's old movies. They appeared to be getting along well, just a couple of insignificant spats, no major arguments, and then Loki suddenly got moody again and  _just left_.

Left.

Leaving Steve sitting alone on the circular couch feeling confused and incredulous at the same time.

Steve sighed as he strode down the stairways leading to the labs, his footsteps along the metal steps echoing in the otherwise empty corridor. The Captain was honestly at his wits' end regarding the God of Mischief right now. Of course, he could simply just mutter a quick apology to Thor and state Loki's rejections towards his past two efforts to help as an excuse of his inability to complete the task. Thor would understand, he will have to... After all, Steve had tried, and it wasn't really his obligation to play mediator for grouchy, moody Norse Gods in the first place. But somehow, as much as he is reluctant to admit it, just the very thought of his team mate's disappointed face gave Steve a ridiculous sense of guilt that he probably shouldn't be feeling. It is precisely because of this reason that the Captain is now making his way to the labs, where he knew that Tony and Bruce would probably be right now, toiling away overnight on one of their projects again.

If it wasn't going to work out at Loki's end for now, then Steve reckoned that he could try convincing the other Avengers to lessen their hostility towards the god first for the time being. He was sure it will help in the long run.

As Clint and Natasha had been called away by Director Fury to attend to some important S.H.I.E.L.D. matters, Steve had decided to start with Tony and Bruce first. Hopefully, since neither was as vengeful as Hawkeye was towards Loki, they would be able to stomach Steve's persuasions better. It is precisely due to this reason that Steve was running through all the arguments he had thought of for Loki's case in his head as he made his way to Tony's lab right now.

_Besides, if Loki is to help out in our future missions, it is very important to build up camaraderie between him and our team to ensure operations run smoothly. And it is not fair to isolate him when we have specifically promised Thor to give Loki a second chance. Plus, everyone makes mistakes, what's important is if they do turn over a new leaf -_

However, as Steve neared the doors of the labs, all the persuasions he had meticulously rehearsed in his mind were forgotten when the faint jingle of a familiar Christmas tune entered his ear. A Christmas tune, of all things! Isn't Christmas still months away? Steve's worries were immediately replaced with curiosity, which then grew when he heard the sounds of crashing metal from behind the doors of the labs. When the Captain finally reached out and turned the door knob with caution-

"What the-?!" Steve ducked almost at once as a flash of red and gold zoomed over him, missing his head by mere inches. The Captain hardly had time to register his shock over what had just happened when he suddenly spotted Tony standing on a circular platform in the middle of the laboratory... And a piece of red metal was flying towards him at a dangerous speed.

"Tony!"

Before Steve could even dash forward and push his team mate out of harm's way, the red metal collided into the billionaire's right shin and unravelled over the calf of the man, forming part of the Iron Man suit.

Hearing the Captain's anxious cry, Tony Stark turned around and stared at his stunned team mate in surprise.

"Oh, hey Cap! Whoa!" Another piece of the red and gold armour hurtled towards the billionaire and Tony Stark reached out just in time to let it land on his left wrist to form a wrist plate.

Steve watched dumbfounded as the Iron Man armour landed on different parts of Tony Stark's body, piece by piece, and unravelled to form the Iron Man suit, all while the catchy tune of 'Jingle Bells' was playing in the background. Ridiculously so.

And, just as he was too stunned to even utter a single word, he heard a strange rattling sound from behind him and turned around, only to realise that the piece of armour he had ducked from earlier was actually the faceplate of the suit. The poor Captain was then forced to duck once more as the face plate flew violently towards his team mate behind him and spun around just in time to see Tony do a somersault and allow the face plate to latch into place.

"Oh yeah!" Tony's voice exclaimed from within the Iron Man suit as he stood up from his usual landing posture, a picture of suaveness and calm just as the 'Jingle Bells' tune ended on a familiar note. "I. Am. Awesome." The billionaire then turned to Steve, who was still too astounded to answer, and continued with a hint of smugness in his now mechanical sounding voice. "Amazing stuff, eh Cap? Snazzy, smooth- is that what they called it in your time?"

Steve hardly had the time to give his conceited friend a cross glare or lecture about how dangerous the earlier display was when he spotted an extra piece of the Iron Man armour rising jerkily behind Tony. Before the Captain could give a warning shout, the armour hurtled forwards and crashed into the back of the billionaire, sending him flying off the platform and sprawling onto the ground with a loud clatter. Steve watched in horror as pieces of the Iron Man armour flew off his friend, who was lying on the ground groaning in pain.

"Tony!"

As Steve rushed forward to help the wincing billionaire up, he suddenly heard slow, sarcastic claps sounding from a corner of the laboratory and turned to see Bruce Banner sitting on a stool at one of the work benches a safe distance away from the platform, glasses slightly askew and looking amused and very,  _very_  tired at the same time.

"Well,  _that_ was a fantastic display." The scientist commented dryly. Tony righted himself from Steve's support with a slight groan and fixed a glare on his smirking friend.

"Don't give me that crap, Banner. It's just a slight technical oversight on my part." Tony snapped, ripping off his still attached right wrist plate in frustration. "It will work, you'll see. I just need to recalibrate the motion sensors, and readjust the-"

"You  _need_  sleep." Steve corrected the rambling genius firmly and unsurprisingly, it was now his turn to be glared at.

"I need to work," Tony retorted and Steve returned his glare with a stern look. Tony Stark was in an obvious need of rest now and as the team leader and Tony's friend, Steve sure as hell wasn't going to back down from his stand of sending his friend to bed, regardless of how absurd it may sound.

"You need to rest." Steve continued insistently. "How many nights have you gone without sleep, Tony? You can't keep going like this!"

Tony scoffed. "I know what I'm doing, Rogers. I don't need you fussing aro-"

Steve ignored the angry billionaire's protests.

"Jarvis, how long has Tony been here?"

"For the past 49 hours and 38 minutes, Mr Rogers. That is excluding the time for the six trips he made to the washrooms, and to grab a bag of Cheetos and a bottle of scotch, of course."

"J, mute. Stop feeding the enemy with information." Tony said crossly, disregarding the look of disbelief Steve gave him.

"49 hours, Tony? Without sleep and only a bag of Cheetos and scotch? Are you crazy?" Steve stared incredulously at his sulking friend. "Okay that's too much. You barely recovered from food poisoning and-!"

"I'm fine Rogers! For the sake of anything or anyone holy, STOP acting like my dad!" Tony snapped infuriately and strode away to the nearest workbench, picking up a screw driver. "Even if you are old enough to be one!" He added as he started to tighten one of the gears on an armour piece a tad more forcefully than he usually would. "Besides," the man continued impatiently with a wave of the screw driver, "Bruce is helping me-"

"Hell yeah, I serve him coffee whenever he wants it." Bruce piped up with a wry smile from his side of the laboratory and Tony spared a few seconds to shoot him a dirty look before turning back to Steve and continuing.

"-so there is basically nothing for you to flip out over. Or tattle to Pepper to, for that matter." The billionaire added knowingly just as Steve seemed about to retort and the super soldier glared at him in exasperation. Trust Tony to be so flippant with his own health! However, knowing the man, any arguments he made would be fruitless, considering how the genius was now in a manic state over his 'work' and Steve made a mental note to report this to Miss Potts the very next morning. Somehow Pepper seemed the only one capable of getting Tony to see sense.

The Captain turned away from his friend reluctantly and eyed the pile of armour lying on the floor with distaste. "What's that? A new model of the suit?"

"Mark 42." Bruce replied lazily from his sprawled out posture on the workbench and Steve eyed his friend's obvious lack of sleep with a tinge of pity. Seriously, only Bruce is tolerant enough to bear with Tony's crazy antics.

"Tony," Steve turned back to the billionaire, trying another attempt at making his friend see reason. However, Tony Stark simply interrupted him before he got a chance to speak.

"Tut tut. We talked about my bedtime already Cappie, end of discussion." Tony wagged his finger at a now extremely annoyed Steve. "Besides," the genius continued as he flung the screwdriver and armour piece he was working on onto the surface of the workbench with a loud clatter, too weary to continue with its fine tuning, "rather than starting a discussion about the Mark 42, which I know you probably won't understand a bit of," Tony added with a slight quirk at the edge of his lips, much to Steve's indignation. "What I'm more interested to know is: why the hell are  _you_  here in my lab, with all its technology, when you tend to avoid technology in the first place."

Steve huffed in annoyance at the man's words. "I don't avoid technology, Tony."

"Ah!" Tony raised a finger at him. "50 bucks says you do."

Steve was about to retort back when Dum-E, which was on standby near one of the work benches, wheeled over with chirping noises and started using its pincer like claw to probe him at the side.

"Hey! Down!" Steve stepped away hurriedly from the robot, which seemed upset that the super soldier did not like him and wheeled away, its only arm drooping down sadly. Steve watched speechlessly as the robot left and turned back to Tony, who was wearing a smug smirk on his face.

"I don't avoid technology." Steve reiterated in exasperation. "I just... don't like them all over me."

"Uh huh."

The grin on Tony's face got more irritating with each passing second and finally, the super soldier couldn't take it anymore. "Okay look, I didn't come here for a squabble. I wanted to talk about some... stuff."

Tony's brows furrowed after listening to Steve's words. "Stuff? Okay, that sounds... dubious."

"It's about Loki." Steve sighed, urging himself to push on despite the sceptical look he was received.

"And... that's even more dubious." Tony walked behind his work bench and seemingly busied himself with his equipment once more. Steve bit his lip impatiently as he stared at his team mate, who appeared totally disinterested in what he had to say.

"Well, regardless of whether you like it or not, I think this is a matter that needs to be addressed," Steve turned to Bruce instead, who had actually perked up at the name of the god. "Loki has been cooping himself up in his room, trying to avoid us for the past two weeks, and it's not going well in the long run."

Bruce frowned thoughtfully at what Steve had said, but before he could speak, a loud clang from the work bench behind Steve interrupted him. Once again, it appears that Tony had decided to give up on fiddling with his equipment and instead, join in on his team mates' conversation instead.

"Cap's got a point there, Brucie. With that greasy hermit in hiding for the past few days, we haven't got the chance to run tests on his magic yet."

"What? You guys are... really serious about the tests?" Steve turned around and gazed at Tony in surprise. The look on the billionaire's face was unreadable. "I don't think Loki will take kindly to being a lab rat." Steve finished uncertainly. The Captain had a bad feeling about this. Somehow, a mental image of Tony and Bruce forcibly strapping Loki down onto a work bench seemed  _awfully_ ominous to him.

"Of course we won't force him if he refuses Steve," Bruce said reasonably as he fiddled with his spectacles. "I won't deny that we're very interested in seeing what insights his magic could provide with our current understanding of science, but we understand that no one likes being an involuntary lab rat." Steve's brows lifted slightly at this. Somehow Tony didn't seem to be someone who scored well on tact in the Captain's books. "Well, at least, I do." Bruce added wryly, seeing the sceptical look on Steve's face.

"Right... erm... I was just worried." Steve bit his lips awkwardly as he tried thinking of what to say next in this delicate situation. "It's just that, we've agreed to giving Loki a second chance, regardless of how much of a jerk he is and... Thor..." Steve's sentence broke off and he found himself to be at a sudden loss of words. He sighed. If only  _this_  would be as easy as chess.

"Thor is Loki's brother. And our team mate." Bruce finished the sentence for him and Steve could not help but feel a sense of gratefulness towards the scientist.

"Yeah." Steve agreed and Bruce frowned as he pondered over what has been said, subconsciously chewing slightly on the edge of his spectacle frame.

"I get where you're coming from," Bruce said slowly, "But to be honest I don't think it will be easy, you know, to interact with  _him_."

Steve gave a tiny smile as he thought back to his earlier encounters with the god.

"Yea, trust me, it's not."

Bruce's brow rose slightly at this and he seemed extremely close to asking Steve what he had meant before thinking the better of it and deciding otherwise. Instead, he returned the smile and nodded. "But I'll try. At least, I won't be hostile... if I can help it."

"Thanks Bruce."

A snort from behind Steve turned the man's attention back to Tony Stark, who didn't seem at all eager or pleased by the conversation. Steve's expectant gaze was met with the genius's defiant stare, and after a long moment of thick, awkward silence, Tony finally gave a heavy sigh and rubbed his face wearily.

"Fuck, I need sleep." The billionaire raised both his hands as a sign of surrender and started making his way out of the lab. Steve continued staring after his friend's back, anxious about the man's lack of answer, until he felt an assuring pat on his shoulder as Bruce passed him on his way out as well.

"Don't worry Steve," Bruce smiled. "Tony not arguing is an achievement by itself."

"Hey! I heard that!" Tony's offended voice sounded from outside the lab and Bruce chuckled. Even Steve, with his mind still filled with worries, couldn't help but give an amused grin.


	7. Breaking the Ice

Steve looked up from the sketch he was working on and gazed across the room, over to where Loki was, deeply engrossed in the pages of an old Shakespearian book he had found on the shelves of Tony Stark's libraries. He watched as the god flipped the page carefully, the usual scowls and sneers on his face absent as he was absorbed into the dark, tragic world of Macbeth. This man before him now seemed so different from the Loki he first met. He looked so peaceful, holding not a weapon but a book in his hands; a picture of serenity. The change was great, and Steve found himself liking this change. A lot.

The Captain gave a tiny smile and returned to his sketch.

It has been nearly a month since Steve had talked to his team mates regarding the issue of Loki, and while they weren't pleased with it at first (Clint had been especially grumpy), the Avengers all conceded in the end. For one, it was clear that Loki will not stand staying cooped up in his room for any longer. The trickster was starting to become a more frequent sight around the tower, and it was getting hard for the Avengers to avoid bumping into him once in a while as they went about their daily activities. Such instances sometimes led to chaos. On a few occasions, Steve and Thor only barely managed to stop an enraged Clint from tearing Loki's throat out to 'wipe that fucking smirk on his face' after the god had provoked the man in one way or another.

Natasha was considerably calmer than her friend when it came to dealing with Loki's snideness, but Steve was not oblivious to the tension in the assassin whenever Loki was in the vicinity, nor did he miss the dangerous gleam in her eyes when the god made a personally offensive remark. It still gave him chills, and the Captain wondered how Loki could actually stand before the Black Widow's cold azure glare during those times, smirking as if it was all a funny joke. Steve wouldn't.

Bruce, true to his promise, did nothing on his part that would provoke the god. Loki seemed to have sensed this, and thankfully reciprocated in kind, although Steve suspected that this was mostly due to the god being wary of the Other Guy lurking in the depths of Bruce's warm brown eyes. Tony Stark, contrary to Steve's expectations, appeared a lot more amiable to Loki than the Captain had expected he would be. Of course there were several spats and arguments now and then, complete with threats and ugly name calling, but Tony seemed the most willing out of the Avengers, other than Steve and Thor, to give advice to Loki on how to operate the electronics around the tower as well as point out to the god that he was an incorrigible menace in the kitchen.

The Captain soon realised, however, that as much as Loki made an effort to avoid Thor, he also seemed to be constantly ( _and intentionally_ ) hanging round places where Steve himself was. How often had Steve entered the kitchen to get a drink after his workout and seen Loki eating his dinner silently at the counter? Or when he had been relaxing in the living room out of habit, gazed up momentarily from his sketches only to see Loki sitting on the armchair at the corner of the room, reading a book quietly? It was as though Loki had somehow memorized Steve's daily schedule and made it a point to stick near the man whenever he could. Steve was, needless to say, unnerved by this realisation at first and it didn't help that whatever efforts he made to resolve the discomfort between them simply resulted in awkward silences. It seemed that after the fiasco with the television, Loki had become considerably more withdrawn in his interactions with him. But still, the fact that Loki constantly sought out the Captain's company ( _silent company_ ) rather than avoid him seemed encouraging, at the very least.

Steve was about to add the final touches to his sketch when the sharp sound of the Avengers' emergency siren pierced through the room. Steve gazed up, immediately exchanging glances with Loki, whose eyes flashed with similar vigilance. Without a word, the Captain rose from his seat and promptly strode out of the room, heading to the meeting room in the tower where the team would gather, his sketchbook lying forgotten on the couch. Loki watched after the man's leaving back for a second before giving a sigh and reluctantly folding down the corner of his current page in the book. It then took him another second to teleport the book to his room before he was following closely after Steve, wondering what the fuss was about this time.

Life as an Avenger or a temporary-Avenger-on-a-conditional-basis was never peaceful, as it seemed. In the past month, there had been multiple times when Loki had been called to assist the Avengers, but all these had merely been petty matters: A couple of flame-thrower and grenade armed bank robbers, one freaky mutilated looking rabbit-werewolf crossbreed and a crazy, melodramatic, pigeon-controlling diva hell bent on world domination. It was as though Loki's invasion on New York with the Chitauri army had encouraged the evil, world-dominating wannabes from all over the world to proceed with their plans, just as Tony had theorised, and this meant more work for the Avengers, even if the villains' attempts were laughable at best.

These threats were taken care of fairly quickly though, and fiasco with the pigeon-controlling maniac had seemed so absurd that Tony even told Loki to stay out of that one. For once, Loki was all too pleased to obey, spending his day lounging on the comfy couch in the living room with a nice cup of tea instead and watching Steve bat the squawking, flapping birds away with his shield in the live news broadcast on TV. He especially enjoyed the part where Thor was bombarded with multiple bird droppings. Tony complained about this endlessly for days as he worked to clean his suit, and it was no surprise when the genius's sour moods were further fanned by Loki's smug smirks.

This time, however, it seemed as though the threat was real.

"Robotic clones," The hologram of Fury stated grimly to the assembled Avengers and Loki as images on the screen beside him showed multiple Doombots flying around the city and firing energy blasts at everything in sight. The images faded a second later to zoom in on the figure of Doctor Doom himself as he stood next to a whirring, glowing machine atop the Trump Tower, observing the chaos below with silent pleasure.

Tony whistled. "Looks like Doom took lessons from a certain someone on how to invade New York glamorously," he said, ignoring the annoyed glare Loki shot him. "Poor Donald though, it's gonna cost him for tower repairs after this is over."

"Speaking from experience, Stark?" Loki smirked and Tony looked offended enough to retort back if Fury had not stepped in.

"If you two  _are done_  with your childish spat, we going to need the Avengers to head down immediately to control the situation." The Director said scathingly and the room fell silent once more. "Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. will work on decoding the signals from Doom's machine. Currently we are unable to find a way to disrupt it yet, but if the Avengers are able to take out Doom along with his contraption while on-site, that would be a plus."

"Way to cover up incompetency." Tony muttered softly as the hologram of Fury flickered out.

"Alright team, you heard him." Steve commanded, not hearing Tony's snipe at Fury. "Get yourselves suited up and gather at the Quinjet in two. Avengers go!"

Loki grinned at Tony slyly. "So I believe I am not to 'stay out of this one' again, am I, Stark?" He mocked as the other Avengers filed out of the room and rushed to their respective stations. Tony scowled.

"You will get your ass into this mess, Reindeer Games. It's about time for you to sweat a bit."

Steve frowned at the banter and turned to his teammate. "Go get ready Tony, this is serious."

The billionaire shot Steve an annoyed look for a second before sighing and giving a nod of understanding. "I'll meet you guys straight at the site." He said and Steve gave him an amiable slap on the shoulder before the man left the room. The Captain then turned to Loki, who seemed more bored than concerned about the entire affair.

"Loki, you're coming with us."

XXX

"What. Are. These. Things?!" Loki gritted his teeth in annoyance as he plunged his long dagger into the neck of the nearest Doombot and decapitated it, causing the body to crumple to the ground into a heap. Near him, Thor swung the Mjolnir at an approaching Doombot, knocking it back into a lamp post with a metallic clang.

"The Director stated that they are robotic clones of Doctor Doom himself." Thor panted as he swung the Mjolnir heavily at yet another Doombot and Loki rolled his eyes in disdain.

"Thank you for repeating what I've heard as well, Thor, it was most insightful!" Loki sneered as he flung a dagger at a Doombot preparing to fire a blast from far away. The dagger met its target and buried deep into the chest of the robot, causing the monstrosity to fizzle and explode in a second.

Thor brought his hammer down hard on the last Doombot near them, smashing its head in before pausing to catch his breath and turning to Loki. "Well, you must admit that they are somewhat like the clones you always conjure up, brother." The Thunder god pointed out. Loki simply gave a cynical snort in reply.

"Except for the fact that mine are illusions, and intangible," He retorted. "These are different. They are real. They have powers. And they possess consciousness, unlike Stark's many contraptions." Loki frowned as he gazed around at the sparking heaps of Doombots around him. "This requires sorcery of some kind, mixed with Midgard's own technology to a degree which even I cannot decipher at this point."

Thor laughed. "You are always so curious Loki, and cautious. Back in the days you would always be analysing our enemies in war, right down to the type of armour they wear and the number of teeth they have."

Loki glared at his brother in irritation. "Well, at least I wasn't the one who nearly had his hand gnawed off after teasing Ratatoskr because I forgot how sharp the creature's teeth were." He retorted and it was Thor's turn to look bemused.

"That was when we were children!" The god protested indignantly.

"And yet you never seem to have grown wiser." Loki smirked in reply. Thor gave an affronted snort and was about to retort back when Clint's voice came through the communicator.

"Sorry to interrupt the brotherly love, but there's another group of Doombots heading your direction."

Loki hissed irritably at the quip and glared up to the top of a nearby building where Hawkeye was, waving at them with what Loki was almost certain to be a smug expression.

Both brothers then turned abruptly and sure enough, soon spotted another hoard of robots approaching.

Thor laughed in anticipation of the fight and gave his Mjolnir a swing. "Just like old times, eh Loki?" He grinned and beside him, Loki chose to roll his eyes instead of answering.

_I swear Steven did this on purpose..._

Once the Avengers landed on site in the Quinjet, Steve had been quick to give out orders on handling the situation. Just like in the invasion Loki had instigated, Tony was to keep perimeters and contain the invasion within Wall Street. Clint, as usual, kept a bird's eye view of things, calling out patterns and taking out whichever air borne enemies he could. The Hulk was told to smash any robots in sight and Steve, Natasha, Thor and Loki were to stay on the ground to fight the Doombots and rescue civilians. Loki would have approved of this plan if not for the fact that Steve had placed him and Thor together on the streets to fend off Doombots while he and Natasha went to the more occupied buildings to evacuate civilians. However, as the Avengers went into action promptly once they received their respective roles, Loki had neither the time to protest, nor show his displeasure. It is for this very reason now that he was fighting side by side with his buffoon of a brother, and getting more irritated with each passing second.

As Loki punched viciously into one of the robotic menaces with his dagger, hissing silent curses at the never ending stream of enemies, he was caught by surprise by yet another charging Doombot, which slammed into him and pinned him against a wall. In the background, he heard Thor's anxious cry and a hastened series of clangs which could only due be Thor's frantic attempts get to his brother. The Doombot pressed itself firmly against Loki during the struggle, negating his attempts to break free and even the god was astonished by its overwhelming strength.

"Doom will destroy you." The Doombot declared, its face so close to Loki's that he could feel its warm breath blowing on his face. Loki winced in disgust.

"Get out of my face, monster!" He snarled. White swirls of energy surrounded his fingers and exploded in a blast of energy after he flexed them towards his tormentor. The Doombot, along with many others near him, disintegrated under the force of the blast and Loki himself was left backed against the wall for support, drain by the sudden massive use of energy. It took him a while to compose himself and after he did, spotted Thor fighting the final two remaining Doombots with so much fury that even Loki was stunned. Then, in that moment, their eyes met and the expression of relief that appeared on Thor's face at the sight of him unharmed made Loki realise that his brother must have thought him dead, or at least injured, in that explosion.

One of the Doombots took advantage of Thor's momentary pause to fire an energy blast at the god, knocking him back onto the ground with a grunt. Out of pure reflex, Thor flung his Mjolnir at the nearest charging Doombot, decapitating it almost immediately but leaving himself defenceless against the second robot's incoming attack. The Doombot grabbed him by the neck and was about to aim a blow at the Thunder god when a sharp dagger flew towards the robot and struck its head, causing it to fizz out and release its grip on its enemy. With a roar, Thor reached out for his hammer, which flew back into his hand, and swung it hard at the Doombot, shattering it into pieces. After making sure that there were no longer any enemies in the vicinity, he turned to Loki and gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you brother."

Loki stared at his smiling brother for a moment, feeling a rush of nostalgia in his heart of all the memories they once shared and bit his lip, trying to force his emotions back down again. But before he could decide whether to be nasty or nice to Thor, Captain America came rushing over.

"Is everyone alright?" Steve asked anxiously as his gaze swept between the two gods. "I heard an explosion over the intercom."

Thor nodded gingerly and Loki gave a tiny scoff. "It was my magic." He stated bluntly.

"Oh," Steve stared at him blankly for a moment before composing himself again. "Right. Widow and I have gotten most of the civilians out of the buildings and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as well as the police are escorting them out of the area. However, the situation's getting out of hand here. Nat is going further down the street to check if there are any more civilians we might have missed out," He explained to Loki and Thor, "and I will need you two to-"

"Whoa, I think I need some backup here!"

Before Steve could finish his order, Hawkeye's panicked voice sounded through the intercom and all attention was directed towards the rooftop where Clint was, desperately trying to defend himself against multiple Doombots.

"He's outnumbered!" Thor cried as they watched the archer dodge multiple blasts of energy fired in his direction and backing up against the edge of the building, resorting to fending off the robots with only his bow in close range. One of the Doombots grabbed Clint from behind in an iron grip and the others advanced menacingly on the man as he struggled to release himself to no avail.

"Tony! Get to Hawkeye!" Steve called urgently through the intercom, but Loki gave a scoff.

"It'll be too late when he arrives," The god hissed. Without another word, he teleported himself to the rooftop and flung a dagger straight into the eye of the Doombot trapping Hawkeye. As the robot loosened its grip, the archer broke free just in time to avoid a blast of energy from a nearby Doombot and retaliate with an arrow of his own instead.

"When I said 'backup', I wasn't expecting you!" Clint yelled to Loki as he fired off another series of arrows at the surrounding Doombots. Loki smirked as he stabbed another Doombot in the neck and allowed it to fall to the ground with a clang.

"Well you know what they say, Hawk, beggars can't be choosers."

Clint scowled, but gave no reply otherwise as he continued firing arrow after arrow. However, with every Doombot taken down, three more seemed to sprout to take its place, and it wasn't long before Loki realised they were fighting a losing battle.

"There's too many of them!" Loki hissed as he threw another dagger at an approaching Doombot and Clint gave a disgruntled snort beside him.

"You don't say. I'm running out of arrows. We need another plan!"

"Indeed." Without warning, Loki grabbed Hawkeye's arm so suddenly that the man nearly punched him out of pure reflex.

"HEY! What the-"

Before Clint could finish his exclamation, he felt a strange sensation within him as his surroundings swirled and his breath was sucked out of him. In a blink of an eye, the buildings around him returned back into focus and Clint fell back onto the ground in a state of shock. It was then that he realised he was no longer on the rooftop, and that Steve, Thor and Loki were all staring down at him.

"What- what the hell was that?!" Clint sputtered as Steve helped him up to his feet. "I thought I was blacking out!" He turned to Loki in disbelief and the god smirked.

"If you haven't figured it out by now, it's a form of magic commonly known as teleportation." Loki grinned and Hawkeye turned red in the face.

Steve gave a sigh of exasperation. "Alright guys, that's enough. Fury just sent a message that they are still unable to find a way to disrupt the signals Doom's machine is sending to the Doombots-"

"Hardly surprising, considering S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current grasp of technology," Tony's voice quipped through the communicator and Loki watched with amusement as Steve closed his eyes in frustration for a second before continuing his sentence.

"-so we need another plan of attack. The key to ending this lies with that machine. However it works, it seems to be controlling the Doombots."

"I can handle this." Clint said, stepping up. "I just need a clear shot, and transportation." He turned to Loki, who gaped at him in surprise.

"Excuse me?" He asked quizzically and Clint gave a mock sigh.

"Teleportation." He stated flatly. "I need you to give me a lift up there," The archer pointed towards the rooftop of the building nearest the Trump Tower, where Doom was situated.

Steve, along with Thor, seemed as stunned as Loki by this request. "Are you sure about this?" He gazed at Clint uncertainly.

Clint scoffed in reply. "Do I look as though I have a choice? Stark's too busy flying around and having fun right now."

"I protest that! Not busy. Just having fun." Tony's voice came through the communicator once more, a little strained as the Iron Man zoomed by overhead, heavily pursued by three Doombots.

The edges of Clint's lips twitched upwards in a smirk as he continued. "Besides, Loki's teleportation is the only way to get up there without alerting Doom."

"Alright," Steve agreed. "Thor, you and I will stay on the ground to continue this fight," he said and Thor nodded grimly. "You two," the Captain then turned to Loki and Clint, "We're counting on you guys. Let's do this!"

As Steve and Thor rushed off to fend off another incoming horde of Doombots, Clint grinned and stepped next to Loki. "Ready, jackass?"

"Just don't fall down this time." Loki smirked and grabbed Clint's shoulder firmly. Within a second, they were standing on the rooftop of the building nearest the Trump Tower, and Hawkeye gave a wicked grin when he spotted Doom standing next to the glowing whirring machine, blissfully unaware of their presence. Loki watched as the archer drew an explosive arrow from his sheath and aimed it carefully at the machine before firing off the shot. The arrow whizzed through the air but exploded before it met its target, just when it reached the tower's boundaries. The space around the tower shimmered for a moment from the explosion before stabilizing again and Doom's head snapped towards their direction immediately.

"Fuck!" Clint cursed furiously as realization dawned upon him. "A force field."

"Don't look now Barton, but I believe we have company."

Clint spun around at Loki's words and sure enough, multiple Doombots have landed on their rooftop and were now advancing on them.

"Now what, genius?" Loki snarled as he plunged his dagger into the nearest Doombot and drew it out also immediately to slash another approaching enemy.

Clint hissed in irritation as he shot a Doombot in the face. This was bad. The plan was not working out as they had expected, they were outnumbered, and at this rate, he would be out of arrows before he could take out Doom's machine. They needed another plan; a plan that could bypass Doom's force field and allow them to destroy the machine.

An enormous roar sounded all of a sudden and a mass of green landed in the middle of the mob of Doombots with a crash. The Hulk gave another deafening roar and slammed its huge fists onto the nearest robots, smashing them immediately. Loki and Clint watched, amazed, as the Hulk continued smashing Doombot after Doombot, swinging out viciously at them with his fists and oblivious to the energy blasts they fired at him. Finally, after all the enemy were disposed of, the green giant turned to glare at Loki. The god gave an uneasy laugh.

"Good thing we are allies, right?" He chuckled awkwardly and the Hulk raised its fist. Loki was about to step back in alarm when the giant brought it crashing down on a Doombot flying towards them, crushing it just inches away from where Loki was. He then gave another deafening roar in the shocked god's face before leaping off the rooftop towards another building, smashing any Doombots that he encountered in his path.

Clint snickered at the stunned look on Loki's face. "He's rather friendly, isn't he?" He smirked and the god turned on him with a glare.

"Shut it, Barton." Loki snarled and Clint simply shrugged the retort away with a grin. The two then turned back to where Doom was, still observing them carefully from the tower.

"We need to act fast." Loki said urgently. "He's going to send more reinforcements soon."

"How?" Clint snapped in irritation. "He has a fucking force field! And I only have one arrow left!" Loki's gaze snapped towards the archer's sheath at his words and sure enough, there was a lone arrow left in it. They basically had only one chance at this. One last shot.

"That will be sufficient." Loki answered grimly and Hawkeye shot him a glance of surprise. "I will be able to open a gap in his force field with my magic, and I believe I can trust you to do the rest." Clint's eyes gleamed at the idea and he nodded, immediately unsheathing his precious last arrow.

Loki took a deep breath and started to focus his mind on disrupting the electromagnetic forces surrounding the opposite tower. Soon enough, a portion of the air around the tower started vibrating violently and tearing apart, showing a clear, stable gap in between the shimmering space. It took a second for Doom to realise what was happening and the deranged man gave a shout of anger, rushing immediately to his machine in an attempt to mend the force field.

"I can't hold this much longer!" Loki hissed to Clint, strained from the pressure of countering against the increased strength of Doom's force field. "Do you have a clear shot, Barton?"

Clint smiled as he pulled the arrow back. "As I always do."

In a split second, the arrow was released, flying through the air and entering the gap in the force field just before it closed, landing on its mark. The bomb on the arrow beeped before it exploded, blasting the machine into smithereens and sending Doom slamming back into the railings from the blast. Around them, Doombots froze midair and started plummeting down to their demise.

Loki gave a satisfied grin as he watched the spectacle, and was surprised when he felt Clint slapping his shoulder happily as the man laughed in glee to the sounds of Doom's enraged cries.

XXX

"Come on Loki!" Steve said impatiently as he dragged the reluctant god down the stairs.

"Are you sure about this Captain? I believe they would rather have me absent." Loki protested unhappily and Steve chuckled.

"You're thinking too much!" The man retorted as he pulled Loki through the door to the lounge room. "Hey guys, look who I brought!"

Loki winced at the sounds of the loud AC/DC music blaring from Tony's stereo and gazed around the room where all the other Avengers were, partying in lieu of their defeat of Doom.

"Finally! So you decided to come out of hiding!"

Loki turned to the direction of the bar counter where Tony was, pouring out a glass of Scotch. "Stop being a greasy hermit and join us Lokes!" The billionaire grinned as he took a sip out of his drink.

"Your invitation touches me, Stark," Loki snorted with disdain, "in all the wrong ways."

Tony gave a pout. "Spoil sport."

"Brother! Come join us!" Thor hollered from the couch where he, Bruce and Natasha were. "This pizza is divine! You'll love it!" The Thunder god laughed as he gestured to the boxes of pizza stacked on the tea table. Loki turned exasperatedly to Steve, who grinned and gave him an encouraging nod. The god then sighed and trod over to the couch, taking the seat near Thor and very graciously ( _Steve thought_ ) accepting the slice of pizza his brother offered him.

It wasn't long into the party before Tony started a drinking match and soon, Loki was left sitting at his end of the couch alone, munching on his pizza ( _it turned out Thor was right for once!_ ) and observing with amusement as Thor and Natasha downed cans after cans of beer. The god was chuckling at how Tony was trying to force Steve to test the limits of his drinking when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Clint standing next to him.

"Here," Clint set a can of beer before Loki, much to his surprise, and the room fell silent as everyone, even Tony, turned to observe the duo. "It's a party," Clint explained. "You can't be at a party without a drink."

The relief that swept over the room when it was apparent no arguments would break out was evident, and Tony gave a laugh at Clint's words. "That's right Rudolph! Drink up! You can't be the only one sober here. Even Bruce is drinking!"

"It's just a glass of gin!" The scientist protested.

Loki smiled and took the can of beer offered to him, opening it up and taking a sip.

Clint gave a tiny cough when he saw Tony waggling his eyebrows at him. "Nothing changed between us though. You're still a bastard." He said to Loki and the latter smirked at his words.

"I don't doubt that for a second." The trickster replied smoothly and Clint grinned before walking off.

"How touching. I can feel the tears starting to well in my eyes." Tony smirked to Hawkeye along the way and the archer retaliated with a firm headlock. Thor cheered on as the two men wrestled and Steve shook his head at the childish, rambunctious behaviour of his team mates, He then walked over to where Loki was and sat right next to him, bringing a beer of his own.

"You did great out there," Steve smiled and Loki scoffed cynically.

"I was only doing as expected of me, according to the agreement." He retorted, taking another sip of his beer. Steve laughed at the reply and shook his head.

"No, you did more than that." He pointed out. "You saved Clint's life, and Thor's." The Captain added. "Your brother told me that."

Loki gave a tiny scowl. "Thor must have been hallucinating then."

Steve stared at the god with exasperation for a moment before smiling and patting him amiably on the shoulder. The two then sat quietly and continued sipping their drinks, each knowing deep down that for the first time in weeks, the ice had finally been broken.


	8. Love is Love

After the incident with Doctor Doom ( _and_  the crazy, massive, out-of-hand party that made a furious Fury call in during the wee hours of the next morning to yell at Stark for leaving 34 voice messages on his phone, drunkenly slurring about the incompetency of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s IT department), it was of no surprise to any that Loki was finally considered as an official 'temporary' Avenger, or as Tony had claimed that night in his drunken state with his arms around the disgusted god: 'One of our own!'

In the weeks that followed, Loki soon grew accustomed to the Avengers' lifestyle, being a frequent sight around the tower and actually interacting more often with the others, though he was still rather cool in his words with Thor. Bit by bit, the Avengers found themselves getting used to the trickster's presence and soon, the initial wariness they used to show around their past nemesis slowly faded.

For one, Clint had stopped glancing around edgily whenever Loki was in the proximity. In fact, the archer was now comfortable enough to sit at the same dining table as the god during breakfast, occasionally flicking bits of cereal over just to snigger at the annoyed glares Loki shot him. Steve soon decided that there was nothing to worry about between the two for now. Natasha too, had stopped fingering the knives in her suit at the sight of Loki. She was also considerably wiser in her interactions with Loki than her partner, and much more mature, which was probably the reason why Hawkeye was more often drenched in milk while she wasn't.

Even Bruce, Steve noticed, appeared noticeably less tense around Loki, and the same could be said vice versa. Tony, however, seemed to be taking Loki's presence best into his stride, constantly striking up random conversations with the god and arguing over who should be the one to occupy Tony's favourite spot on the couch. Steve even stumbled upon them once, just as Tony was demanding Loki to turn water into wine with his touch, and the super soldier soon decided that it was best he did not step in between the two while they bickered for the sake of his own sanity.

However, even as Loki opened up more to those around him, Steve could not help but realise that the god seemed to be more drawn towards him than any of his team mates. Having seemed to have accepted the Captain's extension of friendship in the past, Loki now seemed to be hovering around him even more often than before, constantly asking for advice about household electronics and appliances that even Steve sometimes did not know about. The man strongly suspected that Loki had been doing this on purpose, given how either Tony or Bruce would have been much better choices to explain electronics than he would. The fact that some of the stuff Loki dug up seemed to be from some obscure corner of the tower didn't help much either. Even Tony had noticed this, and commented once that surely Tony himself would have been better qualified to explain the workings of Dum-E than Steve would.

The Captain soon grew used to this attention though, despite his initial unease at having acquired 'a new shadow', as Tony put it. As annoyed as he was by his team mates' teasing, Steve had to admit ( _grudgingly nonetheless_ ) that the God of Mischief was starting to grow on him, for whatever reason he could not fathom. Perhaps it was due to how he had mostly been alone in the past, even with his team mates around him; Bruce and Tony often locked themselves up in the labs, Clint and Natasha had each other and Thor, well, the Thunder god constantly spent his days flying over to visit Jane. Some people can feel lonely even in the biggest crowds, and Steve was often one of them. He was used to it; to being alone and embracing solitude, just like back in the days when he was small and scrawny and had only Bucky as his best friend.

Then, Loki appeared, barging into his life and unapologetically intruding into his privacy in ways most people would not have dared to. After all, Steve drew the line at normal friendships when said friend stood over his bed while he slept in the middle of the night and woke him up to help him fix an electronic toothbrush. Steve literally jumped up in shock when his name was breathed into his ear, and the smirk on Loki's face as he pushed the toothbrush into Steve's hands while the super soldier gaped at him did not help matters either. However, despite all the strange antics Loki did, the Captain couldn't deny that he found his company enjoyable somewhat. The god also had an uncanny habit of appearing whenever Steve's moods were down, striking up conversations entirely at random and distracting the man from any initial memories that haunted him. It was comforting, and the way Loki's eyes always sparkled with mischief when he grins or teases never failed to cheer the Captain up, even if the teasing was at his expense.

In fact, as time passed, Steve found himself getting so used to having Loki around him that the god's absence from his life for extended periods of time, such as an entire day, made him uncomfortable. Tony and Clint called it his 'Loki withdrawal symptoms', which was characterised as Steve constantly shooting glances around the room with hopes of spotting the god somehow magically appearing in one corner or spacing out whenever people were trying to talk to him. After all, Loki had hung around him so frequently now that being absent for even a day seemed unusual for the god, and despite himself, Steve could not help but worry about him when he did not spot him anywhere in the tower. It was for this very reason now that Steve was searching through all three enormous libraries in the Avengers' Tower for any sign of Loki, having not seen the god around since morning. After half an hour of fruitless search, and finally resigning himself to the fact that Loki was indeed not huddled in a dark corner of the libraries lost in one of the many Shakespearian books collecting dust on Tony's shelves, Steve gave up and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where he could get himself a drink and some dinner.

Still pondering about where Loki could have possibly disappeared to, the Captain stepped absent-mindedly through the doorway of the kitchen and gave a tiny jolt when a voice broke his train of thoughts.

"Hey Cap."

Steve turned towards the direction of the voice in surprise and smiled when he saw Natasha sitting at the counter with a sandwich in hand, waving at him.

"Hey Nat," he greeted and walked to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water before going over to sit next to the assassin. Natasha eyed the bottle of water in his hand with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Just having that for dinner?" She probed as the Captain unscrewed the cap and took a sip. Steve gave a laugh and Natasha smiled knowingly before pushing the plate of sandwiches before her towards him. "I made extras, help yourself."

"Thanks," Steve grinned as he picked up a sandwich. Natasha watched him eat for a moment in silence for a moment.

"So what's troubling you?" The woman asked suddenly and Steve nearly choked out of surprise at the unexpected question. Natasha gave him a minute to cough and compose himself before continuing. "You seemed pretty out of it when you walked in." She pointed out matter-of-factly.

"It- it's nothing." The Captain replied embarrassedly. "I'm serious!" He continued hurriedly as Natasha's sharp eyes continued boring into him, unconvinced by his answer. "It was nothing important." The assassin continued staring at him for a few seconds before a look of comprehension dawned on her face. She then gazed around the room for a moment before turning back to Steve with a knowing smirk.

"So where's Loki?"

Steve's face flushed noticeably as he gave an awkward cough at the question and Natasha's smirk grew wider. The super soldier then turned back to his team mate with a disapproving look. "I wasn't thinking of him, if that's what you're getting at!" He protested and Natasha shook her head with a mock sigh.

"Stop lying Cap, you're terrible at it." The woman grinned at the look of indignation on Steve's face. "Besides, this isn't the first time this has happened. In the past weeks we all noticed how your eyes light up whenever Loki's in the vicinity," Natasha smiled, "as well as how dazed you appear recently whenever he's not around." She continued before Steve could interrupt her. "We are not blind you know."

Steve gaped at the revelation. "You make me sound as though I've been bewitched or something," he replied huffily and Natasha laughed.

"That's what Clint said as well!" She smirked and Steve stared back at her with exasperation. "But I know you're not," The woman assured after seeing the look he gave her.

Steve sighed. "He grows on you," he stated as an attempt at explanation and Natasha nodded in understanding.

"Friends always do." She added and Steve felt a strange sense of warmth at her sentence.

_Friends._

"Loki has changed a lot, you know, since last time," Steve continued, unsure of where this conversation was leading. "It's like he's become a better person."

Natasha smiled at his words. "Sure he has," she agreed. "I still don't trust him fully though ( _Steve gave a smile of understanding at her sentence_ ), but then again, I seldom trust anyone." Natasha added uncaringly. "However, Clint seems to be more at ease around Loki lately, and that's good enough for me." She finished with a shrug and Steve smiled. Natasha may seem to be a cold blooded killer to most, but Steve knew deep down that this teammate of his has a big heart, and cared for the people around her much more than even she herself knew about. Not to mention her uncanny insight at times.

"Well, I'm beat." Natasha said after a while, standing up from her chair and giving her body a lazy stretch. "Gonna head to bed now." She grinned when Steve bade her goodnight politely and chuckled, her azure eyes gleaming with a rare mischief. "You too Cap, and don't worry too much about Loki okay? I'm sure he's still safe and sound."

Steve gave an annoyed snort as Natasha left the kitchen with a snicker. Had he really been that obvious? He smiled exasperatedly to himself as he picked up the now empty sandwich plate and placed it in the dishwasher, preparing to head upstairs to bed himself. After all, he was certain Loki wouldn't appear before him today, and he was really tired himself after having been to the gym and searching over half the tower for the god earlier.

Just as he was willing himself to push all thoughts of the elusive trickster back into his mind, a silky voice suddenly whispered next to his ear.

"I require your assistance again, Captain."

Steve spun around so abruptly at the voice, finding himself suddenly face-to-face with the very one he had just been thinking of seconds ago. So close, that their lips were almost touching.

"Loki!" The Captain reeled back so quickly that his elbow knocked into the counter just behind him with a painful bang. The god in question, observed with an amused smirk as Steve rubbed his aching elbow, all while shooting him disapproving looks. He then gave a tiny snicker before speaking.

"How clumsy... Now you will be getting an awful bruise."

Steve rolled his eyes at the mock concern in Loki's voice. "Thanks a lot," he retorted and Loki flashed him another smirk.

"You're welcome."

"Do you mind if you don't do that again Loki?" Steve rubbed his face in frustration as he tried to calm himself down. "It's really not funny when you keep doing that." Loki smirked at the man's unease and took a step closer to him.

"Really? I would have thought that your nerves were stronger than that, Steven." He purrs in an almost cat-like manner and for some reason, Steve felt a heat rising up to his cheeks. He stared back into the god's emerald green eyes and swallowed as his heart skipped a beat.

"So what was it you wanted me to help you with?" The man blurted out in an attempt to quell the strange sensation in him. At hearing his question, Loki blinked in surprise, as though only just remembering the reason he had approached Steve for. The god then fished a cell phone out of the pockets of his ebony black dress pants ( _one of the few 'Midgardian' attire he was willing to wear_ ) and handed it over to the man.

"Teach me how to work this thing," Loki said simply and Steve stared down at the latest model Stark Phone that Loki just handed him.

"How did you get this?"

"Oh, Stark gave it to me as a gift for allowing him and Banner to run some tests on my magic at the laboratories today." Loki drawled matter-of-factly as he and Steve walked over to sit by the kitchen counter. Steve stopped midway in his switching on of the phone in surprise at the revelation.

"So you were in the labs the entire day?" He asked and Loki nodded with a nonchalant expression.

_So that's why he's missing..._

"And an extremely boring day it was too." Loki complained and Steve grinned at the idea of Loki sitting on the worktable as Tony and Bruce hustled around him checking monitor screens and scanning the god with the many devices they had.

"I can imagine." He sympathized and Loki gave a sceptical snort. "So what did you guys do?" Steve asked in his attempts at making friendly conversation after the Loki bossily ordered him to set an acceptable ringtone for his new phone, instead of the preset AC/DC's Iron Man song.

"Nothing much," Loki replied uncaringly as his sharp eyes took in the steps Steve took to change the settings on his phone. "Stark attempted to stick multiple needles into me to test my body's readings ( _Steve looked up in alarm at this_ ), but ended up jabbing himself with a particularly large one instead." The god finished with a smirk, which he quickly hid once he saw the look of suspicion on Steve's face. "Poor guy," he added unconvincingly. Steve shot him a look of disapproval and Loki sighed. "Banner was rather amused, if it helps anything."

Steve gazed at him exasperatedly before shaking his head with a smile. "I guess Tony had it coming, in one way or another," he chuckled and Loki grinned at the man's amusement. There was then a moment's silence as Steve tried to set the phone's wallpaper into a magnificent picture of the Grand Canyon, as Loki ordered, before the god probed into the issue of text messaging.

"So how does this 'SMS' thing work?" Loki inquired curiously as Steve tapped on the text message icon on the phone's main screen. A window popped up where a single green bubble with the words: "Hey Rudolph!" was seen under an unregistered number, and Steve was quick to add the number into the phone's list of contacts under the name 'Tony Stark'.

"It's really simple," Steve explained to Loki as the god watched the process of saving Tony's number with a raised eyebrow. "Every cell phone has a mobile number, like this one. See, that's Tony's," Steve pointed to the string of numbers on the screen. "To SMS, you just need to know the number of the person you wanted to text and save it in your contacts. Then you can just type in your message using this keyboard here."

Loki frowned at the miniature keyboard that Steve referred to on the phone's screen. "Type in my message?" He repeated and Steve nodded.

"Yeah, why don't you try it?" Steve offered kindly, passing Loki back his phone. The god gazed at the screen for a moment before carefully pressing the letters on the keyboard. After he was finished, he turned back to Steve expectantly.

"Now what?"

"Now you just press the 'Send' button over there," Steve replied, indicating the green symbol next to the typed out message. Loki smirked and pressed down on the button, sending off the few choice words he had selected into the Earth's atmosphere and later, into Tony Stark's cell phone.

"By the way, what does ' _Gå til hel, utålelig menneske!_ ' mean?" Steve asked curiously as he peered at the phone screen, severely mispronouncing the words as he did so and Loki smirked at the pitiful attempt.

"It means 'Thank you for the lovely gift'," he replied smoothly and Steve only needed one look at the grin on his face to know that he was lying. Seconds later, a 'bling' sound came from the phone in Loki's hand and both men stared at the message in the new green bubble that popped out: ' _Nice try asshole. Jarvis is a universal translator._ '

"Well it was worth the shot," Loki sighed and Steve could confirm that yes, whatever those Norwegian words meant, they could not possibly be pleasant. "As much fun as this SMS thing was, I'd be pretty bored if Stark was the only one I could do it with." Loki drawled after a while.

Steve chuckled. "Alright, hang on, I will give you mine and some other contacts as well." After some debate over who would be worthy enough to be included in Loki's list of acquaintances, Steve finally managed to key in the contacts of the other Avengers, even Thor (much to Loki's protests), as well as Nick Fury's. Loki was particularly agreeable with entering Fury's number, for some reason Steve could not understand, but the gleam in the trickster's eyes at the mention of the Director gave him a sense of foreboding.

"So whose contacts do you have in your phone?" Loki asked inquisitively as he watched Steve whip out his own mobile to save Loki's number.

"Oh, the same as yours does," Steve replied matter-of-factly. "The Avengers, Fury, Coulson and now, you," he showed his phone just as the god's number was saved into the contacts list and Loki gave him a strange look.

"No other?" The god inquired and Steve smiled sadly.

"There is no other that I know." The man replied. "Not in this time." He added softly. Loki stared at the sombre look on Steve's face and felt tinge of guilt at having stirred up the man's unwelcomed emotions.

"I'm sorry." He said, sincerely for once and Steve smiled.

"It's nothing!" He said, quickly brushing aside any sorrowful memories. "What about you?" The Captain asked cheerily in an attempt to lighten the awkward atmosphere. "We've talked so much about me in the past weeks, but I never got to know more about your past." Loki's face darkened at the mention of his history and Steve was quick to catch that. "I mean- you don't have to say anything you're not willing to, but I'm sure there must be some fond memories of your childhood, or friends that you won't mind sharing about, right?" He offered hastily. Loki took one look at the anxious expression on his friend's face and sighed, both amused by how nervous the man was, and reluctant to delve any further into the topic.

He gave in at the hopeful look on Steve's face though.

"There aren't many that I can speak of," The god admitted grudgingly after a while. "Most people I knew were merely acquaintances met for diplomatic purposes, and few, if not none, progressed past that level. And the ones who had claimed to be my friends in Asgard-" Loki laughed bitterly at this point, "-well, they were never really mine, but Thor's." Steve listened attentively as the god recounted his past, noting with sadness at how similar he and Loki seemed to be in terms of experience. How often had Steve been laughed at by the other children in the orphanage, just because of his weak physique? Even if anyone had been willing to approach him, how often was it due to Bucky's pressures or encouragement? Yes, Steve knew how it was like to be alone and shunned.

"I did meet a friend once," Loki said suddenly after a pause, this time averting his gaze down onto his new phone instead of Steve, "in my childhood. One that was honest, and true. We only knew each other for less than a day, but we shared so much more than I ever did with most people I met in my lifetime: ambitions, dreams... He had a most unusual ability to inspire the best in people." The god smiled fondly at the memory of the blonde scrawny boy in an oversized T-shirt, proudly declaring his aspiration of becoming a brilliant soldier.

"So where is this friend now?" Steve asked eagerly and Loki's grip on his phone tightened.

"We never saw each other again after that day." He answered with a bitter sardonic smile. Steve's face fell at hearing this.

"I'm sorry about that." He said, unsure of how to comfort the god and Loki laughed inwardly at the irony of the situation. "Surely there have to be others?" Steve continued probing, unwilling to allow the conversation to end in awkward silence. "Or if not friends, lovers?" He added with a playful smile and Loki grinned. It seems as though the Captain is pushing it a little here.

_Well, there's no harm in placating Steven a little in this, is there?_

"There have been a few," the god admitted with a grin to Steve's chuckles. "Decades ago I had this brief stint with a lady elf during one of my travels across the realms. It did not last, unfortunately." Loki gave a tiny smirk at the memory. "I was requested to return to Asgard within a month and we parted ways, though I did take a lock of her hair with me for sentimentality's sake."

"It was taken without permission, wasn't it?" Steve pointed out with a mix of disapproval and amusement after seeing the mischievous gleam in the trickster's eyes and Loki smirked.

"Another time, I met this wandering artist in one of the many stop inns leading to Asgard. Till then I had never realised that anyone would have been capable of capturing all of nature's beauty on a single canvas." Loki mused, his eyes glazing over with the past memories of his previous lover.

"Art brings people together, huh?" Steve smiled, relating with his own love of art and Loki laughed with amusement.

"More precisely, the destruction of the art did," the god smirked as Steve appeared utterly confused. "For some foolish reason that I can no longer remember, the goblet of ale I was holding managed to end up right on the very canvas that Anders was carefully working on. That was the first and last time I've ever seen him so furious." Loki recounted with glee, turning to Steve and expecting a laugh in reply. However, contrary to expectations, all the god received was a stunned stare.

"Wait what?" Steve finally found his tongue after a moment and Loki frowned at the strange display of confusion from his friend. Had his story really been that incomprehensible? "You were talking about your lover, right?" The Captain finally asked, seeing the impatient look on his friend's face. "He was- I mean, your lover was- he was a  _guy_?"

Loki frowned. "Indeed. Is there a problem, Captain?" He continued harshly after seeing the incredulous look on Steve's face.

"What? No, no... I mean, I don't know." Steve stumbled over his words as he tried to piece his thoughts together and find the right thing to say in this 'delicate' situation, but failed miserably in his attempts. "What I mean is- I mean, you're gay?" he finished awkwardly and Loki gave him a look of bewilderment.

"Gay?"

"You know- I mean, you don't," Steve bit his lip in frustration at his slip-ups and sighed. "I mean, likes men. Being romantic with men...?" He broke off uncertainly at this point and Loki raised his brows sceptically.

"Is that the Midgardian term for that?"

Steve nodded mutely and Loki frowned in bewilderment. "Well, I did have lovers of both genders before, but it was to my impression that there was nothing uncommon about it in Asgard."The god replied and Steve shifted himself uncomfortably, trying to take in this unexpected piece of information about his new friend. "Is there a problem, Captain?" Loki asked impatiently after seeing the man's unease and Steve swallowed.

"Well- I,"  _What the hell do I say to this?!_ "I mean, it isn't really common here, you know, back in my days," Steve mumbled, and comprehension dawned on Loki as he realised what the man was trying to say. "I don't know how people now think of it!" Steve said hurriedly when he saw the expression on the god's face darken. "I mean, things have changed, people changed and beliefs changed since my time. It might be common now, but it's just that back then, people thought it was unnatural and-"

_Fuck._

The look on Loki's face was now so murderous that Steve desperately wished he could find a hole to hide in right now. It appears as though that in his haste to tread carefully around the eggshells with Loki, he had unwittingly stepped on _all_  of them. The man winced and braced himself for the scene to turn ugly and was surprised when Loki actually gave no other response besides standing up wordlessly from his chair.

"Thank you for your help Captain." Loki said coldly as he slipped his Stark Phone back into his pants pocket. "But since there's nothing more to this conversation, I guess I'll return to my room-"

_Perhaps things aren't as bad as I thought..._

"-and remove my  _unnatural_  self from your presence."

_Ouch._

Steve gaped wordlessly as the god turned to leave the room, wrecking his brains desperately for something to say to quell the situation, but to no avail. As Loki swept away from sight at the doorway, Steve gave up and slumped back against his chair with a sinking feeling in his heart, strongly resisting the urge to kick himself for ruining what would have been a pleasant evening.

XXX

Loki did not appear before Steve at all the next day.

Surprise, surprise.

He did not answer his phone when Steve tried calling him either, and on his third try, the Captain gave up. He wasn't sure if it was due to Loki still being mad at him though,  _or_  if it was because Steve never did manage to teach Loki how to make or receive calls on his phone in the first place. Either way, it seems as though Steve messed up, big time.

After an entire hour of wandering through the tower to search for the god, and failing, Steve finally decided that any further effort was useless. After all, if knocking on the door of Loki's room for a whole fifteen minutes yielded no results, he wasn't sure what else would. Therefore, the Captain was now sitting alone on the large spacious couch in the living room instead, alone, and trying to take his mind off matters by working on his sketchbook.

As always, things never go according to plan.

"Hey Cappie!"

Steve looked up from his sketch and saw Tony, walking into the living room with a wide grin on his face.

The billionaire stopped abruptly in his tracks at the sight of Steve alone, pausing to gaze around the room for a moment before turning back to the man, lips curled up in a smirk.

"So... where's Loki?"

Steve scowled. "How would I know? I haven't seen him around the whole day."

"That explains a lot." Tony grinned as he eyed the multiple balls of paper scattered around the super soldier. Steve huffed as he tore away yet another ruined sketch and crumpled it up, tossing it to his side. Tony smirked and walked over to sit by his team mate, picking up a ball of paper on the seat before he did so. "So what's up? Something nasty must have happened for you to redecorate my couch in this manner." The billionaire quipped, tossing the ball of paper in the air and catching it again.

"Nothing," Steve sighed, placing his sketchbook beside him. Tony gave a snort of disbelief.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're terrible at lying?" He asked, much to Steve's irritation. "Because I'm gonna say that right now: You  _are_  terrible at lying."

"I'm not in the mood, Tony," Steve rubbed his face with frustration and Tony gave a low whistle.

"Not in the mood to talk or not in the mood to lie? Because frankly, the first confirms my earlier question and the second is just an unconvincing excuse."

Steve glared with annoyance at the smirking billionaire for a moment before giving a sigh of resignation. After all, it seems as though he would not be able to hide anything from the inquisitive man and _if_ Steve had to consult someone about how society functioned in the modern world, who better to ask than Tony, right?

"Alright fine, some things cropped up," Steve admitted grudgingly and Tony gave him an 'I knew it' look of triumph. "And I messed up, somehow. Terribly. I mean, so many things have changed since my time and I don't really know what people think anymore, or how society works-" The man paused at this point, trying to find a way to approach the seemingly sensitive topic.

"And?" Tony prompted him helpfully and Steve sighed.

"And I want to- I mean, I'm curious about you know- erm, how people think about the issue of-" Steve made some obscure action with his hands as an attempt at expression and Tony's brows furrowed.

"Continue?" The genius said, hands waving in a mimic of the action Steve made and the Captain bit his lip for a moment.

"-of men- you know, liking other men?" He said at last and Tony gave him a blank look. "Going to bed with people of the same sex?" Steve continued uncertainly, mistaking the expression on his friend's face as one of confusion.

"You mean homosexuality," the billionaire stated flatly after a minute, " _and_  having sex." Steve nodded with embarrassment at the topic while Tony stared at him incredulously. Then, without warning, the genius broke out into a fit of amused laughter.

"Oh this is good," Tony said at last, wiping tears of mirth in his eyes, after he composed himself. "So what's the issue here Cappie? Did you just realise your own repressed inner sexuality and confessed your love for Clint or something?"

"What?! No!" Steve stared back at the smirking man in disbelief. "This isn't about me, Tony!"

Tony grinned. "Oh good, because Clint is as straight as a beanstalk."

"I-" Steve was about to continue with his rant when he suddenly stopped in confusion. "Wait, beanstalks aren't straight."

"Exactly."

"Goddamit Tony! This isn't a laughing matter! It's serious!"

"What?!" Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm being serious here. Clint hangs around Nat all the time and still claims that there's nothing between them aside from a friendship? Pfttt, as if! That man is lying through his teeth, one way or another. There's no doubt about it."

Steve closed his eyes in frustration and forced himself to inhale deeply before turning back to his infuriating friend again. "Look, this isn't about Clint."

"Right."

"And it isn't about me either."

"Mmhmm."

"It's-" Steve hesitated for a moment, "-it's about Loki."

"Wait what?!"

The Captain gazed at the stunned look on Tony's face and took opportunity of the man's silence to continue. "He- he likes men." He added in a whisper and the billionaire stared back incredulously at him.

"Holy shit! You mean Loki is gay?!" Tony exclaimed loudly as he recovered from his stupor and Steve hurriedly shushed him, glancing anxiously at the doorway to see if anyone had overheard them. After all, he wasn't sure if Loki would want his sexuality to be made public, and him telling Tony alone was bad enough; the Captain did not wish for everyone in the Avengers, or possibly any visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to know about this.

"Wow! I mean, I'm not that surprised or anything but still, I didn't expect my suspicions to be confirmed so quickly." Tony laughed and Steve shot him a strange look.

"You suspected?"

"Why yeah!" Tony confirmed matter-of-factly, grinning at the flabbergasted look on his friend's face. "I mean, just look at the way that diva behaves! It was almost undeniable that Loki swings the other way."

"What way does my brother swing, my friend?"

Both men spun around to see Thor standing right at the doorway, gazing at them with a puzzled frown.

"Oh hey Thor," Steve started awkwardly, trying to think of a way to break the news gently to Loki's brother. "We were just talking about-"

"Steve found out Loki is gay!" Tony said with a laugh and Steve was torn between face palming and strangling the chuckling genius beside him. Talk about tact!

"Gay?" Thor's frown deepened at the word, and for a moment, Steve prepared for the worst. "I do not understand that term."

_Oh._

"Oh," It was now Tony's turn to appear surprised. However, the billionaire's face cleared up after a second as he proceeded to provide the Thunder god with an explanation. "Gay means liking people of the same gender, or more precisely, a person liking a man when he himself is also of the male gender. In other words, your brother likes men, Point Break." Tony added bluntly after observing the increasingly bewildered look on Thor's face and the final sentence seemed to have done the job. All confusion on the god's face was cleared at once.

"Oh I see!" Thor gave a laugh of amusement as he walked over to sit with his friends as well. "So was that what you two were discussing so anxiously about?"

"Wait, he was anxious, not me." Tony pointed out, gesturing towards Steve. The super soldier, however, had other matters to be confused about.

"So you knew about Loki's sexuality all along, Thor?" The man inquired curiously. Thor, on his part, gave a wide smile.

"I lived with my brother all my life, Captain. It would be tragic if I were still to be in the dark about such matters."

"And you're okay with it?"

Thor's brows furrowed with confusion at Steve's question. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Tony took one glance at the Captain's bewildered face and gave a sigh before explaining for his friend. "Because you see Thor, we weren't sure if homosexuality- ( _Thor stared at him blankly_ ) –okay fine, if  _being gay_ was something that was accepted in Asgard." Tony finished and Thor gazed at both him and Steve incredulously.

"You mean it isn't accepted here on Midgard?" The god asked in confusion.

"It is Thor, it is. Don't worry your pretty little golden head over it." Tony grinned at the look of distress on his team mate's face. Really, the big guy can get really sensitive at times when it comes to issues related to his brother.

"It wasn't." Steve piped up all of a sudden and both Thor and Tony turned to him. "At least, not in my time." The Captain continued sheepishly as he stared back at his team mates.

Tony gave a sympathetic sigh. "Well, welcome to the 21st Century Cap! We've progressed way past that. Gay marriage is legal here in America now, in some states at least." He gave Steve a slap on the shoulder before continuing. "I would have thought that you, of all people, should know that. Didn't Agent brief you on this?"

"We didn't exactly touch on this topic." Steve admitted and Tony nodded knowingly.

"Well then, Google's your new best friend!"

"Who's Google?" Thor frowned, getting more confused by the minute.

"No one you should know about, Thor." The genius replied snidely and resisted a grin at the god's bewildered, yet offended look. "So back to the topic of Loki's sexuality," Tony changed the topic and turned back to Steve. "You said  _you_  messed up." He stated matter-of-factly and Steve gave a tiny groan at the memory.

"Yeah well," Steve started, shifting about uncomfortably with the attention of both Tony and Thor fixed on him. "I may have somehow offended Loki when I said that... erm- being gay is not natural." He finished with a small voice and there was a stunned silence in the room.

"Whoa." Tony finally spoke up after some time, his voice serious. "You did not just say that, Cap." After realising that his friend,  _their team leader_ , had indeed  _not been joking_ , Tony gave a low sigh. "Go look up the Kinsey Scale on Google, Steve. It will give you a lot more perspective about the matter." The billionaire said kindly, for once. "It's not really your fault, considering how you've been sleeping for 70 years or so, but ideals and beliefs have progressed way since the past, pal. It's all about equality of love and all that shit now, not prejudice."

"Indeed," Thor spoke up grimly after listening to the conversation. "I may not be sure of how things work out here on Midgard, but back in Asgard, love is love. We do not judge based on a person's choices. Regardless of who he is with, as long as my brother is happy, I will be happy for him."

The sincerity of Thor's words touched Steve, and as the Captain gazed back at his friend, he felt a sense of warmth blossoming in his heart.

_Love is love..._

"I understand now. Thanks Thor." Steve smiled and Thor gave a grin in reply.

"You're welcome, my friend."

"What? So I'm invisible now?"

Steve turned with a laugh to the indignant Tony. "You too, pal." He grinned, slapping the billionaire on the back and Tony gave a huff.

"Well now that 'Educating Captain America' is a success, let's get back to the more pressing matters." The man gave a wicked smirk as he glanced at Thor. "So you have been awfully quiet about your brother's sexuality. Never knew you could keep secrets big guy." Tony pointed out accusingly while Thor gaped at him.

"Well, I have never thought of it as something that was important enough to be mentioned." The god protested and Tony grinned.

"But now you do," the genius smirked. "So out with it, surely you would be privy to Loki's love stories. Share a few, come on!"

Thor gave an amused laugh at the question. "You humans are a lot nosier than I've expected."

"It's concerned, Thor. Concerned. Not nosy." Tony corrected the god indignantly. "And surely you must have met some of Loki's boyfriends?"

"My brother courts both genders, Anthony, not just men." Thor smiled patiently at the genius's insistent questioning. "And yes, I have gone on hunting trips with a few of his male lovers in the past."

"I certainly hope they didn't end up as game." Tony gave a snigger at the thought and Thor gave a wicked grin that was certainly uncharacteristic of his character.

"Well, there had been  _one_ incident," The god admitted with a devilish gleam in his bright blue eyes. "But the scoundrel deserved it and even Loki was agreeable to it. He made it out alive though." Thor finished with a tinge of woefulness in his voice and Tony gave him an awed look.

"Wow. Remind me never to woo your brother."

Thor laughed heartily at his friend's statement. "The reminder shall not be necessary my friend. Loki has high standards."

"Hey, play nice Point Break! No personal attacks here!" The look of utter indignation on Tony's face after hearing the god's statement made Steve chuckle.

As the Captain watched his team mates argue over the extent of Loki's standards and whether Tony was above them,  _or not_ , a question started to nag at the back of his mind.

"Wait, so do  _you_  like men as well, Tony?" He shot the billionaire a look of curiosity, breaking up the argument. Tony gave a cynical snort.

"I have Pepper, remember?" The man retorted. "Besides, the question of whether I meet Rudolph's standards, which  _I do_ ," he shot Thor a dirty look, "is a matter of pride, not sexuality. Though, I did sleep with a couple of guys back in my college years," Tony recounted thoughtfully after a minute, much to the Captain's shock, "but, I was pretty wasted at that time, so I guess alcohol does blur gender lines. What?" He asked, catching the scandalized look Steve gave him. "It's college, it's a time to be wild."

"Well, you haven't changed much since your college days then," Steve replied with a sniff, much to Tony's indignation. "Also, I wasn't  _that_  wild when I was in college."

"You went to  _art school_ , for a year, what'd you expect?"

Steve bristled with indignation at Tony's jab, and had been so close to arguing back before deciding against it. After all, any argument with Tony would probably drag the entire afternoon, and Steve neither had the time nor the energy to start one.

"So how does this whole  _bed_  thing work with two men, anyway?" The Captain asked irritably, attempting to change the topic and Tony gave a smirk.

"You need to start saying 'Sex' when you mean it, Cap." The billionaire grinned, much to Steve's annoyance. "Plus, like I said, Google's your best friend. You don't really want me to explain this to you here, right?"

Steve blinked in surprise for a moment before realising the implications of his question. He blushed.

"Right."

Beside them, Thor, who was still being kept in the dark about who the mysterious Google was, gave a huff of displeasure.

XXX

Later that night, when he was alone in his room again, Steve did as he was told and dutifully googled on the subject. After reading through several articles and glancing through hundreds of images, fascinating, useful and horrifying alike, the Captain deemed it safe to say that his knowledge regarding the topic has expanded somewhat. He soon realised, however, that all views and opinions on this topic depended a lot on individual perspective, and most articles he had read seemed at least to lie somewhere in the grey areas. Nonetheless, there had been a few which had made him frown in disgust, mostly about hate crime, peer bullying, and suicides. These went strongly against his personal moral values and principles, and it didn't take Steve long to form a firm opinion on what's morally acceptable, and what was not.

And then, there is the issue with Loki.

After having spent a couple of months with the god, Steve had long concluded that the trickster had never been evil at heart. Bitter? Yes. Deceptive? Definitely. Nasty? Sometimes. And perhaps a whole lot of other negative attributes as well. But deep down, the Captain knew that there was still some good left in Loki, and this fact should never be overlooked simply because of who he was as a person. Besides, Steve had rather enjoyed the company of his new found friend in the past weeks and there was no reason why anything should change now.

_Thor was right. Love is love._

Gazing down at the Stark Phone in his hand, Steve thought carefully for a moment before quickly typing out a short message. The Captain then took a deep breath, and pressed the 'Send' button, watching as his message appeared in a bubble on the chat screen, sent to the one he had intended it to reach.

' _Hey, I'm really sorry about last night. Can we talk?_ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if anyone found this chapter a little boring, but for the sake of the story, I felt as though it had to be written. After all, personally to me, I felt as though Steve would not be too eager about the idea of homosexuality, considering how he was came from 70 years ago where the topic of homosexuality is probably taboo. Even if he was a really open guy who fights for freedom and such, I still believe he needs some time and a little help to adapt to the modern world. He is NOT homophobic though, at least not in my story. Poor dude just needs some time to catch up.
> 
> Btw, 'Gå til hel, utålelig menneske!' means 'Go to hell, insufferable human!' just in case anyone was wondering.


	9. Of Ice Cream and Carrots

Loki did not answer the text he sent.

After waiting fruitlessly over an hour for a reply the night before, Steve grew tired and decided to head to bed instead, thinking that perhaps Loki was long asleep as well. However, there was no reply text from Loki today either, and the only text Steve found waiting in his phone after checking it first thing in the morning once he awoke was from Tony Stark.

' _So how was google last night? ;) ;) ;)_ '

Trying to ignore the pangs of disappointment gnawing at his heart, Steve texted back with a simple ' _Useful :)_ ' and placed his phone back on the bedside table, heading to the bathroom to prepare himself for the day. On his way to breakfast, and  _while_ he was having breakfast, the Captain saw no sign of the god either. After finishing his cereal and clearing up, without any reply from Loki even then, Steve decided that Loki must still be mad at him after all. He was just wondering if he should head straight to the god's room and force him to come out of hiding to talk things through, or if sending another text would suffice when along the way, Steve spotted the very person he was searching for. Just sitting alone right there on the couch in the living room.

"Loki?"

The god in question gazed up from his phone, which he had been fervently texting with, just long enough to shoot Steve a look of displeasure before turning his attention back to it again. Steve watched with a frown as the trickster's lips curled up slightly in a smirk, reading the text he had received on his phone, and felt a sudden sense of indignation rise within him.

_So he must have seen my text. And he didn't reply. All night._

Walking over to sit opposite Loki on the circular couch, and observing as the god gave a snicker at another text he received, Steve soon decided that it was best not to mention his own text and delve straight into the more pressing issues instead.

"Hey, erm, can we talk?" The man tried at starting a conversation but Loki simply gave him an unimpressed look over his phone.

"Normally I would have loved to, but as you can see, I'm a little busy right now." The god sneered. Another 'bling' sound came on the trickster's phone a second later and his attention immediately went back to the device, eagerly typing out another message and leaving Steve to stare exasperatedly at him.

"Alright look," the man sighed. "I know you're still mad at me for the other night, and I admit I had been a little abrupt- okay, I had been very abrupt!" Steve corrected after seeing Loki's eyebrows rise sceptically at his statement. "I didn't handle the issue well, and I made things awkward. I'm sorry about that," he admitted and the hard look in Loki's eyes softened a little at the truthful apology. "What you said that day had surprised me," Steve continued in his explanation, "but that was only because I had been raised in a culture where such issues were not often spoken about. I didn't mean to offend you, and I certainly will not treat you any differently from before because of this... So can we just put this thing behind us, and you know, continue being friends?" Steve finished to a somewhat awkward silence and bit his lip anxiously in wait for a reply.

Loki gazed at the man blankly for a moment, stunned by what he had said. Then, after a few seconds, he opened his mouth and looked about to answer before seemingly thinking the better of it and choosing to remain silent instead. Then, without warning, his expression of surprise changed into a smirk.

"Oh, but I've long placed the matter behind me, Captain." The god drawled smoothly and Steve frowned in bewilderment at his sentence.

"Really? Since when?" He asked disbelievingly and Loki's eyes gleamed with wicked glee.

"Since a minute ago."

Before Steve could say anything about this strange statement, his cell phone rang. As the Captain gazed down at the caller ID on the screen and saw Fury's name, a jolt of realisation hit him and he turned to Loki with an incredulous look. The god simply smirked back.

"Hello?" Steve started gingerly as he picked up the call and winced the very next moment at Fury's extremely loud voice.

"YOU GAVE LOKI MY PHONE NUMBER?!"

Shooting Loki a dirty look, Steve got up immediately from his seat, heading to a quiet corner of the room to explain things to the furious director. Loki watched him with a smug, satisfied smirk, occasionally chuckling when Fury's voice could be heard blaring from the phone even as Steve was across the other side of the room. After the Captain was done getting his ear drums tortured, he came back to the couch with a scowl.

"What the hell did you send to Fury?" He asked crossly and Loki snickered as he showed the man his phone. Steve received the phone irritably and scrolled to the top of the trickster's long text history, reading it from the start and suddenly feeling faint as he did so.

_7.48 a.m._ ' _Greetings Nicholas._ '

_7.50 a.m._ ' _Who is this?_ '

_7.50 a.m._ ' _Oh, just someone you should be familiar with.'_

_7.51 a.m._ ' _Who are you?_ '

_7\. 52 a.m._ ' _Why don't you take a guess?_ '

_7.53 a.m._ ' _No games here. Who the fuck are you?!_ '

_7.55 a.m._ ' _Don't you get tired of repeating yourself, Director?_ '

_7.56 a.m._ ' _Alright, last warning asshole. You'd better answer my question before I'll find out myself and things turn ugly._ '

_7.58 a.m._ ' _Ugly is a rather subjective term, don't you think, dear Nicholas?_ '

_8.11 a.m._ ' _Stark?! Is that you?! Don't try to deny it! The GPS tracking indicated that this is coming from that fucking tower of yours and there's no one else there who would do something as idiotic as this!_ '

_8.13 a.m._ ' _Oh my. Poor Stark. Always on your blacklist._ '

_8.14 a.m._ ' _Stark, if this is you, you'd better cease it immediately before I go up there and stick my foot up your billion dollar ass._ '

_8.15 a.m._  ' _Dear dear... do you want me to warn him, Director?_ '

_8.17 a.m._  ' _You aren't Stark?_ '

_8.20 a.m._ ' _I would most certainly hope so. It'd be most tragic otherwise._ '

_8.21 a.m._  ' _THEN WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!_ '

Somewhere along the lengthy history of texts, Fury finally clued in on who the mysterious text messenger is, and the results weren't pretty.

_8\. 44 a.m._  " _LOKI? How the fuck did you get a fucking phone and who gave you my number?_ '

_8.45 a.m._  ' _Do you really have to ask?_ '

_9.12 a.m._  ' _Stark's phone is unreachable, but you can tell him that I'm going to have a word with him later._ '

_9.13 a.m._  ' _And such wonderful words they shall be, I can imagine. But to be fair, Nicholas, although Stark was the one to present me with this lovely piece of Midgardian device, it was your favourite Captain who taught me how to text and gave me your number._ '

_9\. 15 a.m._  ' _ROGERS?!_ '

_9.16 a.m._  ' _I wasn't under the impression that you had another favourite Captain._ '

And that was the last message sent by Loki ten minutes ago.

Steve rubbed his face in frustration after reading through the messages and shot Loki another disapproving glare. The god, however, simply smirked gleefully as he took back his phone and pocketed it. He then leant back comfortably on one of the cushions on the couch, as though waiting for Steve to say something, and the Captain did.

"You do know that-" He started furiously but then stopped midway through his reproach. After all, Steve had just somewhat patched things up with the god and he wasn't sure if blowing up over this matter and ruining things again was worth it. Besides, it was just a harmless prank. Maybe. "Alright fine," the man sighed in resignation after seeing the smug look Loki gave him. "I'll let it go this time."

Loki's brows rose with amusement. "How gracious," he drawled, and Steve glared exasperatedly at him. A moment of silence then swept across the room as both men found nothing else to say and it wasn't long before Loki got bored again.

"So are you just going to spend the entire morning sitting there and staring at me?" The god asked casually as Steve gave him a blank look. "As fun as that sounds I would very much prefer if we did something else to celebrate our renewed friendship."

Steve stared at Loki wordlessly for a second, taken aback by the question before finally gathering his thoughts sufficiently enough to speak. "Erm, something? I don't- Oh!" The Captain's face beamed as an idea came into his mind. "Why don't we head out of the tower for a while? You know, tour the city? You haven't been around much." He suggested lightly and Loki gazed back at him in surprise.

"I don't think I'm allowed to leave this tower in the first place." He pointed out flatly and Steve grinned.

"Well, you're not allowed alone, but you're going to be with me, right? Besides, you just landed me on Fury's bad side. I don't think anything else I do would matter too much to him anymore, at least for now." The Captain ended with a chuckle and Loki gave a wide grin.

"Rebellious," The god smirked approvingly. "I like it. So where are we heading?"

XXX

After spending the morning strolling through various parts of the city, showing Loki where the Central Park was and explaining to the god about the concepts of picnics and Frisbees, they stopped to have lunch at a decent restaurant Loki approved of. Then, after wandering around for a while more, Steve finally decided that it was about time to head back to the tower before the other Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. noticed that they were missing and started a city-wide search for them. Along the way, they passed by an ice-cream shop and Loki stopped abruptly. He gazed at the pictures of colourful ice-cream on the signboard and felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. The god then turned to Steve.

"I want to get one of those." He pointed out and Steve blinked in confusion at the sudden request.

"An ice-cream?" The Captain asked in surprise and Loki shot him an unimpressed look, as though to ask if his sentence had been that hard to understand. "Wow," Steve continued uncertainly as he started making his way towards the ice-cream shop. "I had no idea you would like these things."

"A friend introduced it to me once." Loki drawled matter-of-factly as he followed Steve, but that was all he would say about the topic.

"So what flavour do you want?" Steve asked as he stared at the vast number of flavours listed on the sign board, spoiled for choice.

Loki frowned. "Get me the pink one." The god said simply, remembering the first cone he had ever gotten.

"The pink-? Oh, you mean strawberry?"

Steve took the nonchalant shrug he received from the god as confirmation of his question and turned to the girl at the counter whose eyes were shining, awestruck by the fact that Captain America was actually patronising her store. "One strawberry and one vanilla cone please."

"Would you like any sprinkles with that?" The girl asked earnestly and Steve was stunned for a moment.  _Sprinkles?_ "We have chocolate rice, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts and rainbow sprinkles!" The girl offered helpfully as she showed the two men jars by the side of the counter, each containing the different types of sprinkles, and Steve gaped at the variety. This wasn't how he remembered buying ice-cream to be like.

"I would love some almonds on my ice-cream, thank you." Loki informed Steve lightly and the Captain nodded mutely before turning back to the girl and placing his order. He got a strawberry cone with almond sprinkles for Loki and a plain old vanilla cone for himself, politely declining the girl's enthusiastic offer to give it to them on the house. The two men then left the shop, stopping by just a few metres away to taste their ice-cream.

"What's that flavour?" Loki eyed Steve's cone curiously, and the Captain chuckled.

"It's vanilla," he replied, "one of my favourites. Though I don't really get it often." Steve admitted and Loki remembered how his friend told him in the past that he seldom ate cold things due to his sickly body.

"Can I try it?" The god asked and Steve nodded, offering the ice cream to him.

Just as Loki leant forward to get a taste of the ice cream, a group of rowdy boys rode by on their bicycles, loudly ringing their bells as they zipped past. Shocked by the sudden commotion, Steve jolted and most unfortunately squashed the ice-cream into Loki's face.

"Oh god! I'm sorry!" The man apologised hastily after seeing the furious glare his friend shot him. "I'm sorry, I-" Then, after realising how comical the usually dignified god looked with the white cream smeared all over his nose and lips, Steve broke out into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. Loki cleared the ice-cream on his face promptly with his magic, all while shooting the laughing man affronted glares and finally, Steve composed himself enough to stand straight and give him an apologetic look.

"I'm really sorry," Steve chuckled at last, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye as he did so. "I didn't mean to do that, but you really looked too hilarious earlier, and-"

As Loki listened to his friend's explanation, his lips curled up into a sudden sly grin. The god then silently flexed his fingers and a boy who was walking past them, carrying his own ice cream, suddenly tripped over an invisible rock like thing. The ice cream flew out of the boy's hand and landed right smack on the sleeve of Steve's shirt.

"Hey!" Steve yelled in indignation and it was now Loki's turn to snicker.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" The boy cried out, horrified by this turn of events and Steve was quick to comfort him.

"No no, it wasn't your fault!" The man gave him an assuring smile as he tried to wipe the ice-cream off his sleeve. He then turned furiously to Loki, who was still smirking at him. "You aren't supposed to use your magic outside of battles!" Steve hissed in a low whisper to the god, who returned his glare with a smug look.

"So what if I did? Are you going to snitch on me now?" He teased and Steve scowled.

"No. But you owe this kid an apology." The Captain pointed out shortly and Loki frowned at the stern look Steve gave him. The god then took a glance at the poor, unknowing boy, scared half to death by the two men arguing and gave a sigh, turning towards him.

"Here, take this," Loki said curtly as he pushed his ice cream towards the boy with reluctance. "It will replace the one you lost. And no arguments-" He snapped just as the stunned boy opened his mouth to speak. "-this is a strawberry cone with almond sprinkles, child, be grateful! Now off with you!"

"You call  _that_  an apology?" Steve gaped as the frightened boy fled with Loki's ice cream in hand. The god turned towards the man and gave him a sour look.

"Don't look at me like that," Loki retorted. "None of this would have happened if you did not smash your ice cream into my face!"

Steve spluttered with indignation at the accusation. "I've said that it was an accident. And I had apologised." He pointed out heatedly and Loki smirked.

"Yes, I could feel your sincerity while you were laughing away earlier," he replied snidely and Steve bit his lip in frustration, not knowing what to say. "But if you do feel bad about it, you may make it up to me by purchasing me another one of those cones." Loki suggested with a grin, amused by the annoyed look on the man's face.

Steve glared at the smirking god for a moment, feeling thoroughly irked by how Loki had so smoothly avoided all fault and pushed the blame to him. However, for some reason he could not explain, after seeing the way Loki's eyes twinkled while he flashed him his usual wide grin, Steve felt the anger within him slowly ebb and fade away. It then took him a while to realise that he had been staring at Loki's face for the past minute in a daze while his friend clicked his tongue impatiently in wait for Steve's answer.

_Ah, what the heck!_

The Captain gave a huff and turned reluctantly to walk back and join the queue of the ice-cream shop.

"Don't forget the almonds!" Loki called after him and chuckled gleefully when Steve made some incomprehensible sound in reply, irritated by the reminder.

XXX

"So you went out to town with Loki today?" Tony asked as he chewed on a piece of chicken from his chop suey, staring at Steve with amazement.

"Yeah," Steve replied as he carefully sliced some ham on the counter.

"Mmhmm," Tony hummed thoughtfully as he picked a carrot out from the packet of noodles before him. "So remind me what you're doing now again?" The billionaire continued, popping a pea into his mouth.

Steve rolled his eyes with annoyance at the constant surge of questions. "I'm making sandwiches?" He answered sarcastically, gesturing to the ham, cheese, lettuce and bread before him. Tony chuckled.

"For yourself and Loki," he pointed out matter-of-factly, adding on to his friend's sentence and Steve sighed.

"Well yeah."

"So where is that freeloading bum then?"

"Loki's in the living room watching America's Funniest Home Videos right now." Steve explained huffily as he opened the packet of cheddar cheese and Tony gave an amused snort.

"And he couldn't make his own sandwiches?" The billionaire chuckled.

Steve gave an irritated sigh. "That's what I said," he complained and Tony couldn't contain his laughter any longer. It took him a while to catch the annoyed look Steve shot him before he calmed himself down and returned to his noodles, still smirking nonetheless. Obviously Loki must have had a better counter argument to what the Captain  _said_  for Steve to be here in the kitchen now, preparing sandwiches by himself.

"My brother likes his sandwiches with two slices of cheese." Thor piped up helpfully from beside Tony, causing the billionaire to choke on his noodles. Steve closed his eyes in frustration.

"Thank you Thor," he deadpanned, picking up a second slice of cheese nonetheless and adding it to Loki's meal.

"You're welcome," Thor grinned, and Steve could have sworn that the usually oblivious Thunder god was actually making fun of him for once. Steve placed the sandwiches he prepared carefully into the microwave to toast for a moment before turning back to his two team mates, frowning at the grins they flashed at him.

"So I see you and Loki are back on talking terms," Tony pointed out with a smug look and Thor laughed knowingly.

"Of course, my brother never holds grudges for too long," the Thunder god said cheerily and Tony gave a sceptical snort at this.

"Says you!" He retorted and Thor frowned.

"For minor issues such as this, I guess," he admitted sheepishly.

Steve gave his friend a sympathetic smile. "Give him some time. He's starting to get over it." The Captain said comfortingly and Thor grinned at the thought.

"Indeed! And I'm sure it would not be long before things returned to how they used to be," the Thunder god declared, "just like the days in our youth when we were wild and free."

"Wild and free?" Tony's ears perked up at the potential source of gossip. "You, I can imagine, but Reindeer games? He used to be  _wild_?"

Thor laughed heartily at his friend's question. "Indeed! Loki had been just as wild as I had been in our youth, or perhaps even more!" He chuckled at the looks of disbelief on both Tony and Steve's faces. "In fact, I stopped setting limits on just how wild my brother can be after that time he bedded Svaðilfari!"

"Oh, a one night stand," Tony nodded knowingly as he chewed on some of his noodles. "So who's this Svaðilfari guy, or girl, anyway?"

Thor chuckled with amusement to his question and even Steve, who normally did not approve of gossip, leant in a little forward to listen out of curiosity.

"Svaðilfari is a stallion."

Tony spat out the noodles in his mouth.

"What?!" Steve gaped in shock at the smiling Norse god.

"You're fucking kidding me!" Tony choked as he, too, stared incredulously at his team mate beside him. When it was clear that Thor was definitely not joking, the billionaire gave a low disbelieving laugh. "Well, that gives a whole new perspective on the term 'horsing around'."

"Loki's mated with a horse?" Steve repeated with a traumatised look on his face. "Please tell me that this is not legalised in anywhere in America, even now!" He turned towards Tony, voice filled with dread.

"You're safe there, Cap." The billionaire confirmed and Steve felt a wave of relief washing over him.

"Thank goodness."

Thor shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat, realising that he had once again unwittingly opened a can of worms about Loki. "Well, Loki had shape-shifted himself into a mare when that happened, if it helps anything..." He muttered uncertainly and Tony laughed, slapping him on the back.

"Don't worry big guy, we won't hold this against Loki! The days of our youth is the time to be wild, right Cap?"

Steve blinked in surprise for a moment before realising that the question was targeted at him. "Erm, yeah. Sure." He agreed half-heartedly to Tony's statement about being 'wild' and then noticed the look of anxiety on Thor's face. "Don't worry too much about this Thor. I'm not going to judge Loki, or anyone for that matter, just because of their sexual preferences." He added, with a firmer tone this time round and Thor gave him an appreciative smile.

Just then, the timer on the microwave sounded and Steve hastily got out the sandwiches, setting them on a plate.

"Alright, I'll see you guys around then," he smiled as he brought the plate out of the kitchen, heading to the living room where Loki was most probably grumpily waiting for his dinner. Thor waved cheerfully to the Captain as he left and Tony gave a cynical snort as he returned to his chop suey.

"Capsicle's too nice for his own good," the billionaire said matter-of-factly as he took another mouthful of his noodles. "He's totally getting bullied by Loki right now."

"Loki can get a little demanding at times." Thor agreed, picking up one of the abandoned carrots that Tony had picked out and chewing on the orange stick absent-mindedly.

Tony, however, gave a little smirk. "We've already established the fact that Loki likes men, right?" He pointed out, and Thor nodded mutely, unsure of where this conversation was heading. "Well then," Tony continued, a wicked little gleam in his eyes, "as his brother, and basically the only person here in this tower to know him for decades, do you think that perhaps Rudolph has this tendency to hang around people he's interested in, like say...  _all the time_?"

Thor frowned in confusion at this question. "I believe he does have this tendency," he admitted. "Back then when we were youths, he met this charming lady from a distant realm and- oh!" The Thunder god's eyes shone with sudden realisation as he understood what his team mate was getting at. Tony laughed and dragged his chair a little closer to Thor's, huddling towards the god.

"So do you think Rogers knows?" He asked in a conspiratorial whisper and Thor's brows furrowed at the question.

"I highly doubt it." He replied with a serious expression. "The Captain does seem highly oblivious when it comes to matters such as these."

Tony smirked at the reply and was just opening his mouth to answer when they suddenly heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. Both men turned around and soon saw a weary looking Bruce shuffling tiredly towards the doorway of the kitchen, looking as though he hadn't slept for days.

"Oh hey!" The scientist's eyes lit up a little when he spotted his teammates sitting at the dining table.

"Hello Brucie!" Tony greeted his friend while Thor flashed the man a huge grin. "Haven't seen you for ages! Had a fun vacation?"

"I was only gone for two days Tony," Bruce replied exasperatedly as he approached the table and pulled out a chair. "And I wasn't too hyped about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s labs, to be honest. I much prefer the ones we have here."

Tony beamed with pleasure at his friend's indirect compliment. "So what did S.H.I.E.L.D. want you for?" He asked curiously and Bruce shot him a wry smile.

"You seem pretty concerned," the man replied, somewhat teasingly.

Tony gave a slight pout. "Of course I'm concerned. They borrowed my lab partner for a whole 46 hours. I do believe I have the right to know what they're up to." He finished indignantly and Bruce chuckled.

"It's nothing much," he sighed, giving his eyes a tired rub. "They wanted me to run some tests on several stabilizing agents similar to the one Loki used during his invasion a few months back." The man explained. "Normally I wouldn't be needed but since some of them were giving off mild amounts of radiation they figured it'd be safer for me to head down personally."

"I see." Tony chewed thoughtfully and Bruce grinned at the man.

"So, I'm pretty hungry. Is there anything for dinner?" He asked hopefully and Tony chuckled.

"We ordered Chinese," he pointed at the packet of nearly finished chop suey before him. "But you didn't call to say you'd be coming home for dinner, so there's none for you." The genius smirked, "I did save a few carrots for you though." He added brightly, gesturing to the pile of unwanted carrot bits at the side of the packet and Bruce grimaced.

"Thanks, but I think I'll make myself a sandwich." The scientist grumbled before getting up and making his way towards the kitchen counter.

Tony snickered at the sounds of Bruce rustling through the cupboards in search of food and turned back to Thor. "So what were we talking about again?"

Thor picked up another piece of carrot and chewed on it thoughtfully. "Ah yes, we were discussing about whether the Captain knows my brother is interested in him."

There was a loud thud after the god's sentence and both men turned towards Bruce once more, only to see the scientist staring at them with his eyes widened in disbelief. The packet of bread he originally held was now lying on the clean kitchen floor.

"Excuse me?" The question came out as a low, horrified whisper. "Correct me if I'm wrong but, did you just say that Loki  _is interested in_  Steve? Or is there something I missed there?" He finished with an incredulous look at both Thor and Tony. The two men exchanged glances for a moment before turning back to him.

"Yep." Tony replied honestly. "Loki totally has the hots for Rogers." There. Short and simple.

"Oh god," Bruce leant back in shock against the counter. "This is-" he gaped at Tony, as though waiting for the man to suddenly shout 'April's Fool' in glee or something, even though it wasn't April, and when he received no such reaction, turned to Thor instead. After the Thunder god confirmed what Tony had said with a grim nod, Bruce sighed and rubbed his temples wearily.

"Okay, this is all too much for me to absorb in one night," he grumbled, bending over to pick up his dropped loaf of bread. "I'm tired, and I'm hungry, and I can't find my jar of olives." He deadpanned with a frustrated glance at the wide arrays of cabinets in the kitchen and Tony gave a sympathetic shrug.

"I know," the billionaire agreed. "Thor took a while too, to grasp this," he continued much to the indignation of the Thunder god beside him. "And I swear I saw Clint last with your olive jar by the way," Tony added as Bruce turned to him with an irked look. "Just saying."

Bruce gave a long suffering sigh. "I've nothing against LGBT rights or anything, Tony, you of all people should know. ( _Tony gave a tiny grin at this_ ) But this...  _this_  is just too amazing for me to take all in one shot. I mean, Loki and Steve? They are like- like-"

"Polar opposites?" Tony offered helpfully.

"Exactly!" Bruce gave the counter surface beside him a triumphant bang with his fist. "Polar opposites!" He emphasised in earnest. Tony gave a tiny chuckle.

"Remember the laws of attraction in physics, pal?  _Opposites attract_." The man pointed out with a smirk and Bruce's eyebrows rose cynically.

"I don't think it works the same way in relationships as it does with magnets, Tony." He replied dryly. Tony was about to retort back when Steve suddenly entered through the doorway again, much to the surprise of all three men. He was greeted with a stunned silence.

Tony was the first to find his tongue again. "Oh hey Cappie, what brings you back?"

"Oh, I came to grab a couple of drinks and- oh hey Bruce!" Steve suddenly caught sight of the man standing by the counter and gave him a wide smile. "Didn't know you were back."

"I only just returned," Bruce replied amiably and Steve grinned before turning back to Tony.

"So what were you guys talking about earlier?" He inquired curiously. "You stopped after I came in."

Thor exchanged an anxious glance with Bruce while Tony, as unfazed as ever, gave a smirk. "We were discussing about how fresh these carrots were." The billionaire replied casually, showing the Captain the pile of carrots by the side of his chop suey packet.

"Carrots?"

"Yeah, Point Break loves them, don't you big guy?"

"Ah yes!" Thor agreed hurriedly. "They are divine!" He picked up another piece, biting into it immediately as if to prove his point.

"Okay..." Steve cast a doubtful look as Tony bit back on his urge to laugh. The Captain then went over to the fridge and took out two beers before turning to leave again. "I shall leave you two to talk about  _carrots_  then," he continued cynically. "Goodnight Bruce," Steve added with a polite nod in the scientist's direction and Bruce smiled, waving to the man as he left.

When it was certain that Steve was definitely out of eavesdropping distance, Tony heaved a sigh of relief and turned back to Thor.

"We can't let Rogers know about this for now. You know how he is about all these lovey dovey stuff. He'd probably just freak out and then, there goes all your brother's chances!"

"What should we do then, my friend?" Thor asked anxiously and behind them, Bruce gave a wry laugh.

"I think you guys are thinking too much." The scientist pointed out wearily and Tony smirked, wagging a finger at his friend.

"Stop being a party pooper Brucie. We all do wish for our team leader, and good friend, to get some love, don't we?" He quipped and Bruce shot him a disbelieving look. "Thor and I are definitely going to be in this-," Tony stated as a matter of fact and beside him, Thor nodded fervently, "-so the question now is, are you in? Or out?"

Bruce stared exasperatedly at his friend, carefully considering the issue for a moment before the sides of his lips twitched upwards to form a slight grin. Tony only needed one look at the expression on the scientist's face to know what his answer would be and he chuckled, giving his hands a gleeful clap.

"Alright, Jarvis, open a file and label it 'Operation Stoki'. We gotta start some planning for this project!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love passive aggressive Loki, don't you? And yes, the relationship's progressing along now, it just needs a little push, or rather a couple of jump starts before it would work.
> 
> Also I probably won't be posting in the next few days as I will be busy but I'm hoping to at least get to the mid point of this story before my vacation is over. In the meantime, I hope to hear from all of you in the comments! :D


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